Because of the destruction of deep plant roots and seeds, ANB said, the recovery of the areas of dry and wet heath could take years, and it is unlikely the area will ever return to the state it was before the fire, which started on Wednesday, 25 May, and took two days to bring under control. A fire in 1996 was less extensive, but heathland affected was still not recovered completely before fire struck again last week.

“We’re going to see a different sort of heath returning,” said Dirk Bogaert of ANB. The first plants to return will be grasses that grow quickly and that pose a threat to the recovery of the characteristic heath plants – low-growing woody shrubs such as heathers, bog asphodel, cottongrass and the protected spotted orchid. In all probability, the familiar vistas of purple heather of the Kalmthoutse Heide may be gone forever, replaced by the green of grass.

As Flanders Today went to press, the cause of the fire still remained unknown. Fire fighters equipped with water tankers and helicopters were brought in from all available stations in the province, as well as from Flemish Brabant and Limburg, augmented by about 550 fire service personnel from the Netherlands, which partly owns the 3,500 hectare reserve. Together they fought for two days against a fire that spread rapidly because of dry conditions and a strong wind. The fire was finally brought under control on Friday, and the disaster plan was stepped back from provincial to municipal level. Federal interior minister Annemie Turtelboom has demanded an investigation into problems experienced on Wednesday evening with the relatively new telecommunications system known as Astrid, which broke down during operations, hampering the coordination of fire-fighting efforts.

A spokesman for the company that provides the system pointed out that the area of the park is known to have less than ideal coverage for communications. However it appears Astrid technicians had refused, under the terms of their contracts, to remedy problems that had shown up outside of working hours. “This is unacceptable and must never happen again,” the minister said.

Taking stock

The Kalmthout reserve, an area of about 2,000 hectares, is now closed to the public. Members of the Institute for Nature and Forestry Research, meanwhile, are taking inventory of the numbers of woodlark and nightjar nests and members of the nature group Hyla are investigating the impact on reptiles and amphibians.

Of particular concern was the situation of the smooth snake (Coronella austriaca), a threatened species. The group found five dead smooth snakes, but also six survivors, which have now been taken to an unaffected area to be released. Toad, butterfly and spider populations have also suffered severe losses.

The cost of the damage is estimated at €2 to €3 million euros. On Sunday, Flemish environment minister Joke Schauvliege promised the Flemish government would contribute to the cost. “The ANB has an annual budget of some €80 million at its disposal,” she told VRT television. “If it’s necessary to provide extra resources…we have to find them. With 600 hectares gone, we have to see to it that the damage can be fixed quickly.”

Antwerp province again raised its nature alert to red, after a brief period following rain on Thursday had seen it go down to orange. At the weekend, 30 fire fighters were still in the area carrying out active control measures, along with two tankers from the civil protection service, forest rangers and mounted police. Damping of the area with fire hoses as a precaution against fire breaking out again is likely to continue until the end of this week. A group of about 100 people who live close to the area returned to their homes after being evacuated because of a smoke cloud caused by winds on Thursday.

In Limburg province, which recently suffered its own smaller fires, the nature alert is also at its highest level, with 60,000 hectares of woodland across the province closed to the public. Weather forecasters have predicted the current dry spell will continue until the middle of June.