The fire broke out on Wednesday on the territory of the Artillerie Schietkamp military training ground near the village of ‘t Harde during a shooting exercise.
The fire subsequently spread throughout the 500-hectare area. 200 firefighters responded to the fire. The smoke from the fire began to spread northwest of the focus and reached tens of kilometers away to the North Sea. The A28 highway was even closed due to the smoke.
⚡️A 500-hectare fire broke out at a military training ground in the Netherlands, — Hart van Nederland reports
Firefighting efforts are complicated by the risk of ammunition detonations. pic.twitter.com/Uz16EsN8EM
— NEXTA (@nexta_tv) April 30, 2026
The smoke from the fire was so pronounced that it was clearly visible even from a satellite. The clear sky that prevails over a large part of Europe also contributed to this. The so-called pyrocumulus, which is a non-precipitating cloud that forms over the place of fires, also formed above the fire.
The fire itself was clearly visible in the red color of the heat channel. The Dutch Meteorological Service (KNMI) even caught the smoke on the radar.
De rookpluim van de #natuurbrand deze middag bij ‘t Harde nabij Nunspeet (westelijke Veluwe) opgepikt door de KNMI-weerradar van Herwijnen 🔥 In korte tijd van een compacte firehaard naar een esprød signal boven grote delen van Nederland! pic.twitter.com/Bmzd64ThQw
— Maarten Reyniers (@mrtnrey) April 29, 2026
Meteorological radar usually detects reflections from precipitation cloud particles, but it can also detect, for example, a flock of birds; in this case, he caught particles of smoke from the fire.
The cause of the fire is still under investigation, but the drought that currently prevails in a large part of Europe, including the Czech Republic, contributed to its rapid spread. Several forest fires are currently raging in the Netherlands alone.
