# Europe wildfires unearth and ignite WWII bombs 2026-08-08T06:42:33+00:00 | World & Diplomacy | Indian Opinion Desk Corroboration: 1 independent outlet Wildfires across Europe are increasingly setting off or exposing unexploded bombs from the two world wars, a report says. In July, a blaze in Germany's Muritz National Park forced bomb disposal teams to work beside firefighters because the forest floor holds cold war-era munitions. In south-western France's Gironde region, a fire near Le Porge uncovered a forgotten cache of at least 75 shells, one of which punched through a house wall. The local mayor, Martial Zaninetti, said the municipality had no record the munitions were there. The danger grows as fires burn hotter and longer, especially in peat, transferring sustained heat into the ground. In 2025, a six-week moorland fire in North Yorkshire, UK, set off more than 20 buried shells. Burning vegetation also exposes munitions, as happened at Le Porge. Hindustan Times reports that extreme heat alone triggered explosions at six sites in Iraq in 2018-19, and that climate change is doubling fire-prone summer days in southern Europe. ## Coverage - hindustantimes.com Tags: climate change, Europe, Germany, munitions, wildfires, world-war-bombs Canonical: https://indianopinion.org/europe-wildfires-unearth-and-ignite-wwii-bombs/ License: Summary and commentary (c) Indian Opinion, reusable with attribution. Facts belong to the linked sources. Cite: https://indianopinion.org/europe-wildfires-unearth-and-ignite-wwii-bombs/#story-in-brief Review state: restored archive article, accurate at time of publication, not offered to search indexes.