The heat and dry weather already caused several fires on Wednesday.

After tackling the fire near Schumannseck on Wednesday, firefighters were called to another fire on Rue de Hamm on Thursday. As on Wednesday, hay bales had caught fire, this time in a field.

The fire has spread very quickly due to the weather conditions. The flames spread so quickly that a fire engine caught fire as well, exploding. The Grand Ducal Fire and Rescue Corps confirmed that the fire was at risk of spreading to the nearby woods.

[Feu de végetation] en cours à Luxembourg-Hamm avec propagation à un fourgon pompe-tonne. Aucun blessé à déplorer pour l’instant mais appel est fait à la population d’éviter le secteur à cause du dégagement de fumée et afin de laisser libre passage aux secours encore en route. pic.twitter.com/UHcRwnL1RD — CGDIS (@CGDISlux) July 25, 2019

Firefighters are currently battling the fire at the time of publication. There are no injuries as of yet but the fire also neared several houses bordering the field. Firefighters are deployed here as well to prevent the spread of the fire. The fire brigades at the scene are working as hard as they can to prevent the fire from spreading to the woods and nearby houses.

The emergency services are asking the public to steer clear of the area, especially due to the amount of smoke. Both Rue de Hamm (between Rue Auguste Charles and Val de Hamm - crematorium) and Val de Hamm (N2) - between the Cents bridge and Rue Marie et Pierre Curie - are closed to traffic and local detours are signposted. A police helicopter is also onsite to track the extent of the fire.

The latest update at around 4pm confirmed that the field continues to burn in some spots, but broadly firefighters have managed to get the fire under control and the fire did not spread to the woods or nearby homes. However, 20 minutes later it appears that the forest is on fire and that multiple nearby petrol stations have been evacuated. The evacuation occurred out of safety reasons, as at the time the fire was spreading towards the petrol station.

Findel firefighters are at the scene to support colleagues with special equipment. The Mertert, Luxembourg City, Hesperange, Niederanven, Kehlen, Réiserbann, Alebësch, Findel, Lintgen, and Bockfiels fire brigades are at the scene.

At 5pm, RTL reporter Dany Rasqué spoke to CGDIS director general Paul Schroeder, who explained that the entire operation is incredibly exhausting for firefighters. Asked about ambulances at the scene, Schroeder said that two firefighters were being treated for exhaustion, but were not injured. These firefighters are currently recovering, but the remaining firefighters require subbing in, mainly due to the weather conditions.

Schroeder confirmed that firefighters had managed to prevent the fire from spreading towards houses and towards the petrol stations, but are still continuing work to prevent the forest fire from spreading. The remaining operation to extinguish the fire in the forest will require massive efforts, Schroeder confirmed, and is likely to last hours as it requires ground troops. The operation is likely to continue throughout the night, if not through to Friday. Mainly, the fire brigades hope to prevent the fire from breaking out again, even if it has been extinguished.

Schroeder was unable to confirm whether the fire engine exploded, but confirmed that the vehicle had caught fire.

At 6.10pm, the authorities announced that Val de Hamm has reopened to traffic towards the Irrgarten roundabout.

Shortly after 7.30pm it was announced that the fire was under control. Teams of firefighters continued to work throughout the night to ensure the fire could not start again.