Wildfires Expose, Detonate Buried World War Bombs Across Europe

Wildfires burning across Europe this summer have exposed and detonated unexploded ordnance from World War I and II, posing a deadly threat to crews responding to the flames.

Explosions have been reported in France, Belgium, Germany, and the Netherlands. In the eastern Belgian province of Liege, Governor Hervé Jamar stated that emergency services are adapting to account for munitions buried in fire areas, and a few sporadic detonations have been heard. A wildfire near Bordeaux, France, uncovered a cache of suspected World War II-era ammunition.

Sarah Njeri, a peace and conflict scholar at London's School of Oriental and African Studies, noted that climate change is doing the work of unburying and reactivating what was previously stable. The current wildfire season was intensified by heavy rains in January that spurred vegetation growth, which then became kindling during the summer heat, drought conditions, low humidity, and strong winds.

This created an ideal environment for fires to spread over territory known to contain unexploded weapons. Christina Greene, a researcher at the University of Arizona, commented that the legacy of war keeps creeping up due to climate change, leading to a reliving of war legacies in certain places.