Hoge Venen wildfires expose Belgium's lack of firefighting aircraft

A massive wildfire in the Hoge Venen has become one of the most severe natural fires in Belgian history, consuming over 3,000 hectares of forest and nature reserves. The scale of the blaze has surpassed the significant 2011 fire, creating immense challenges for containment due to the fragile peatlands and difficult terrain.

The crisis has highlighted a significant gap in Belgium’s domestic aerial firefighting capabilities. While the country has allocated billions toward military defense and munitions, it lacks heavy firefighting aircraft. Consequently, Belgium has had to rely on the European Union’s assistance mechanism. Support has included Chinook helicopters from the Netherlands and firefighting aircraft from Sweden to supplement the limited capacity of Belgian helicopters equipped with Bambi Buckets.

In response to criticism regarding the speed and adequacy of the military response, Defense Minister Theo Francken has denied allegations that the defense sector acted too late, stating that such claims are incorrect.