A large fire tore through a military training camp in the eastern Netherlands on Wednesday, sending thick plumes of smoke into the sky that were visible from as far away as Amsterdam, authorities said.
Local officials said the blaze began in the morning at a firing range for the Dutch army's artillery in the village of 't Harde, forcing the temporary closure of part of the A28 motorway.
"Several teams of firefighters have been deployed to bring the fire under control," said the 't Harde security institute, warning residents to stay away from the smoke.
A spokesman for the Dutch police service, the Royal Netherlands Marechaussee, told the ANP news agency that while the fire had broken out during a military exercise, it was not clear if it had been caused by the drill.
The Dutch air force said on X that it had deployed three helicopters to help tackle the blaze.
"For the Netherlands, this is truly a fire of exceptional magnitude," Edwin Kok, the national coordinator for forest fire control at the Netherlands Institute for Public Safety, told ANP.
According to Kok, putting out the fire could still take several days, given the weather conditions.
