Wildfires spreading across Europe during the current summer have uncovered a significant threat beneath scorched landscapes: unexploded ordnance from World War I and II. Bomb-disposal teams have responded to incidents in France, Belgium, Germany, and the Netherlands, where some weapons have detonated due to intense heat from the flames.
Scholars attribute the increased danger to climate change, which has destabilized conditions that previously kept buried munitions dormant. A particularly severe fire season resulted from heavy January rains that promoted vegetation growth, followed by summer heat, drought conditions, and strong winds that created ideal fire conditions. As flames advanced, they moved through territories known to contain unexploded weapons, a persistent legacy of the wars that ended decades ago.
Several regions have experienced significant discoveries. In northeastern France near Bordeaux, a major wildfire uncovered ammunition believed to date from World War II. In eastern Belgium’s Liege province, authorities reported sporadic explosions and adapted emergency protocols to account for buried munitions. Local historians and demining experts note that forests such as the High Fens, which covers battlefields including the Battle of the Bulge and the Hurtgen Forest, contain particularly high concentrations of unexploded ordnance.
Belgium’s national defense ministry receives disposal requests from the region roughly weekly, though it does not classify the area as a primary concern compared to western regions like Ypres, where farmers annually encounter war remnants during soil cultivation. Across Belgium, the Explosive Ordnance Disposal and Destruction Service responds to over 3,000 calls annually and disposes of hundreds of tons of munitions from both conflicts. Additionally, drought conditions have exposed weapons in waterways, including naval mines in Slovakia’s Danube River and World War II-era bombs at Hungary’s Margaret Bridge and along the Rhine River in Germany.
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