Largest Wildfire in North Rhine-Westphalia's Recorded History Erupts in Hürtgenwald

A wildfire broke out August 13 in the Hürtgenwald (Hürtgen Forest) near Gey in the Düren district, North Rhine-Westphalia, and rapidly grew from roughly 25 hectares to about 300 hectares amid extreme heat, dry air, and strong winds — becoming the largest forest fire in the state's history since official record-keeping began in 1991. Around 1,800 residents of Gey were evacuated overnight into August 14, first to a school in Straß and later a special-needs school in Düren. At peak, about 1,800 emergency personnel battled the blaze, backed by Bundeswehr Bergepanzer 2 tanks and Büffel recovery vehicles, NH-90 and CH-53 helicopters, state and federal police helicopters, and the Technical Relief Organisation (THW). Firefighting was hampered when unexploded World War II ordnance — left over from the 1944 Battle of Hürtgen Forest — detonated on the fire ground overnight. Five people were injured. NRW Forestry Minister Silke Gorißen visited the site August 14, thanking responders and farmers who supplied cultivators and slurry tankers to cut firebreaks. The fire was brought sufficiently under control by the evening of August 15 for evacuees to return home; municipal authorities took over lead responsibility for remaining operations on August 18.