France, Germany Send Firefighters to Help Battle Dutch Blazes

France and Germany sent firefighting units to the Netherlands on Friday to help battle woodland blazes flaring in several areas. Many of the fires, which sparked on Wednesday and Thursday, were raging in land used for military training, including an artillery range, in the south. Stretched Dutch authorities requested help facing the emergency through the EU Civil Protection Mechanism, with France and Germany responding. French Interior Minister Laurent Nunez said on X that Paris had dispatched 41 civil security personnel and 10 vehicles. A total of 67 firefighters, 21 vehicles and three trailers were sent by the Bonn fire service in Germany. A Dutch military spokesman, Major Mike Hofman, on Friday confirmed to AFP that army “training grounds were in use at the time the fires broke out”. He said an investigation was under way “examining whether there is a connection between the military operations and the origin of the fires”. The head of the Dutch armed forces said on Thursday that extra precautions were being taken on terrain used for drills because of a drought currently parching the country. He added, however, that the military exercises being conducted would not be suspended.