High Fens fire exposes dispute over delayed red-flag closure

Updated 18 August 2026, 11:30 CEST — A major wildfire that broke out in the High Fens in Liège province on Friday, 14 August, has burned more than half of the nature reserve, according to Laurane Winandy, director of the University of Liège’s High Fens scientific station. Firefighters and supporting services remained engaged through Monday as the authorities restricted access to the affected area.

The fire has now opened a dispute over prevention. HLN reported that a red-flag closure was not declared before the outbreak because of concern about the consequences for tourism. That explanation is an attributed claim and has not yet been substantiated through a published decision record from the Walloon administration. The cause of the fire also remains undetermined in the publicly available reporting.

A red flag is a concrete safety measure, not simply advice. The Walloon Public Service says it prohibits entry to sensitive parts of the reserve when dry vegetation and adverse weather create a high risk of ignition and rapid spread. Wallonia used the measure from 23 April until 4 May this year, withdrawing it only after rainfall reduced the danger. The East Belgium tourism agency says anyone entering a closed zone risks a €250 fine.

The central question is therefore whether the conditions before 14 August met the administration’s threshold for closure and, if so, who decided to leave the reserve accessible. Closing paths reduces the number of potential ignition sources and keeps visitors away from a fast-moving fire, but it does not eliminate natural or off-path causes. Only the investigation can establish whether an earlier closure would have prevented this particular blaze.

The ecological consequences extend beyond visibly scorched vegetation. RTBF reported that rare peatland and sensitive habitats were affected, erasing years of restoration work. Peat can retain heat below the surface, while the High Fens’ exposed terrain and limited vehicle access complicate suppression. The reserve previously lost more than 1,200 hectares in the April 2011 fire, according to Belgium’s federal Earth-observation platform.

Residents, visitors and tourism businesses now face continued closures and uncertainty over recovery. The next decisive evidence will come from the fire-cause investigation, the final damage survey and disclosure of the risk assessments used before Friday. Those records will determine whether the red-flag controversy reflects a defensible operational judgement or a preventable failure.