Brussels/Paris, Aug. 16 (SANA)Firefighters inFrance and Belgiumare battling majorwildfiresthat have burned thousands of hectares, with authorities deploying emergency crews, aircraft and helicopters while evacuating residents from threatened areas.

In Belgium, efforts continued to contain a wildfire in the Fagnes Nature Park in the east of the country near theGerman border, which has destroyed about 1,600 hectares of forest.

Firefighters from acrossBelgium and Germanywere deployed to assist in fighting the blaze, while aircraft and helicopters were mobilized through theEuropean Union’s civil protection mechanism, AFP reported.

Authorities were consideringevacuating residentsof the nearby village of Sourbrodt due to heavy smoke and the risk of the fire spreading toward homes.

“There is a risk that the flames could reach homes, but we are using all available resources to protect them,” Wallonia regional spokesperson Nicolas Yerno said.

EU Crisis Management Commissioner Hadja Lahbibsaid the bloc had deployed three helicopters and two water-dropping firefighting aircraft after Belgium requested emergency assistance to tackle what officials described as the country’s largest wildfire in decades.

Data from theEuropean Forest Fire Information Systemshowed the blaze had surpassed the previous Belgian record, a 2011 fire that burned about 1,400 hectares.

InFrance, a wildfire in pine forests in thesouthwestern Landes regionexpanded after flames reignited, increasing the burned area to 1,580 hectares and forcing the evacuation of about 100 additional residents.

Landes prefect Gilles Clavreul said 650 people had been evacuated or affected by the fire, adding that no homes had been damaged.

Arnaud Fabre, head of the local fire and rescue service, said the difficult terrain required the deployment of significant firefighting resources, including four additional firefighting aircraft.

Wildfires have spread across parts of Europe this summer,burning thousands of hectares and forcing thousands of people to leave their homes as high temperatures and drought conditions continue.