Netherlands Wildfires: Dutch airport evacuated as fires spread near Kempen military training areas

Dutch authorities had to immediately evacuate Kempen Airport on Thursday after a large wildfire broke out nearby the airport vicinity.

As reported, authorities evacuated a Dutch airport in the south of the Netherlands after a large wildfire broke out near a ‌military training area, officials said.

The fire erupted near a military training site in the north of the province of Limburg.

Kempen Airport is among the Netherlands' busiest general aviation airports. The incident is the latest in a series of blazes amid exceptionally dry conditions in the country.

Additionally, another fire erupted on Thursday, also near a military training area, about 40 kilometers to the east, close to the German-Dutch border, and the fire brigade is trying to contain both fires, local safety authorities said.

It comes after ‌a separate blaze was reported on Wednesday, near a military training site in the north of the country.

A spokesperson for the national gendarmerie force, Marchesaussee, said it was investigating the cause of the fires.

He noted that it was too early to draw a link between the three fires and military activities taking place at the sites when the blazes started.

Weather experts concluded that the Netherlands has seen hardly any rainfall for weeks, making this April one of the driest on record and heightening the risk of wildfires.