A very large fire is raging in the De Peel nature reserve this Wednesday morning. About two hectares went up in flames. The fire rages just across the provincial border in Limburg. Firefighters from Brabant help fight the flames. According to 1Limburg, clouds of smoke can be seen in the wide area.
The fire is raging in Griendtsveen, Limburg, near the Zwarte Plakweg. The Limburg-North safety region has scaled up to ‘very large wildfire’. The first report was made around 6:30 am.
Emergency services have been deployed en masse. Firefighters from Brabant are also helping. For the time being, the help with a wildfire adviser and a tanker sprayer is still limited. But there is a larger request for help at the Brabant-North Security Region, a spokesperson said.
Impenetrable area
“I suspect that we will send more people that way during the day,” says an information officer. “De Peel is a large impenetrable area with a lot of peat. It takes a lot of manual work to get there. This could be a long-term commitment. Since it will be very hot today, I can imagine that people will be relieved quickly.”
The Limburg fire brigade has now asked Defense to assist with fire fighting helicopters. The special hand crew for wildfires from Overijssel was also called up. In the south of the Netherlands there have been plans for a year and a half to set up a similar team. It should be operational in the spring of 2023.
Difficult to fight
In 2020, the Deurnese Peel was the setting for the largest Dutch wildfire ever. The fire smoldered underground for weeks and was very difficult to fight despite the efforts of many firefighters. In the end 800 hectares of nature reserve were lost.
Omroep Brabant is making a mini-documentary about the Deurnese Peel brand: