High Fens fire scars an area larger than many Belgian communes

The affected area is estimated at roughly 3,000 hectares, according to the Belgian Defence Ministry and provincial crisis reporting. That is 30 square kilometres: a square measuring about 5.5 kilometres on each side. It exceeds the entire territory of some Belgian communes and is comparable to a substantial portion of municipalities such as Saint-Gilles or Etterbeek repeated several times over. The comparison explains the appeal of L’Echo’s visualisation of the fire’s extent relative to a reader’s commune, but it should not be mistaken for a final ecological damage map. The perimeter includes different habitats and levels of burning, and specialists have not yet safely surveyed every part of the site.

The fire started at about 13:06 on 14 August near Drossart, on the territory of Baelen, the Walloon government reported. It spread through heath, peatland and forest during hot, dry and windy weather. Le Soir’s photographic report, drawing on Belga coverage, described around 400 firefighters working in difficult terrain and documented support from farmers, Belgian police helicopters and aircraft from neighbouring European countries. By 19 August, Defence said crews had brought the fire under control and were completing containment work, although hot spots and changing weather still made the site hazardous.

Residents evacuated from Sourbrodt, Küchelscheid and Leykaul were subsequently allowed home, according to provincial crisis updates, but the lifting of an evacuation is not an invitation to visit the reserve. Authorities list falling trees and branches, underground hot spots, local smoke, disturbed wildlife and potentially exposed old munitions among the remaining dangers. Going around a barrier for a photograph, a dog walk or a familiar running route can endanger both the visitor and teams still working inside the perimeter.

Visitors should use the official SPW Environment page and its linked Geoportal map rather than relying on an old route file, social-media post or accommodation listing. In Belgian terminology, the relevant local authority may appear as a commune in French, a Gemeinde in German or a gemeente in Dutch. The fire zone lies partly in the country’s German-speaking area, so signs and municipal notices may be in French and German; names can also differ, as with Hautes Fagnes, Hohes Venn and Hoge Venen.

A sensible pre-departure check has four parts. First, open the current restriction map on geoportail.wallonie.be. Second, consult the website or official social-media channel of the commune or Gemeinde at the start of the route, especially Baelen, Waimes, Bütgenbach, Jalhay, Eupen or Spa. Third, confirm that the car park and every section of the planned trail are open. Finally, have an alternative outside the restricted forestry districts. The SPW says the closure applies to public circulation in the designated forests and reserves, not merely to the visibly blackened ground.

Do not fly a drone over the site. The SPW says drone flights can force low-flying firefighting aircraft to suspend operations. Do not enter to rescue wildlife either. The regional authority asks anyone finding an injured wild animal to contact an approved CREAVES wildlife rehabilitation centre; its published contacts include L’Hermitage in Thimister-Clermont and La Tanière des Fagnes in Sourbrodt. If flames or an active fire are visible, call the European emergency number 112. General information should come from official portals rather than the emergency line.

Air checks during the night of 22 to 23 August found a temporary rise in fine particles but no worrying carbon-monoxide concentrations, the SPW reported. The 24-hour air-quality category remained good and readings returned to normal during the morning. People troubled by smoke or odour should nevertheless reduce outdoor activity and ventilate only when local conditions permit. Wallonair provides current measurements for Wallonia; symptoms such as breathing difficulty warrant medical advice, with an emergency call where appropriate.

The Société wallonne des eaux, or SWDE, also tested drinking-water infrastructure around the plateau. According to the SPW’s 21 August update, results complied with health standards, the Bütgenbach supplies were not drawn from the affected zone, and Spa Monopole’s catchments were more than ten kilometres away without a known hydrogeological connection. Enhanced surveillance will continue for several weeks. Residents should therefore follow their water supplier and commune rather than rumours, but there was no official instruction to stop drinking mains water as of 23 August.

The High Fens are not simply woodland. They contain heath and peat habitats in which fire can move through dry vegetation and continue smouldering below the surface. That helps explain both the speed of the emergency and the cautious reopening policy. Rain on 17 and 18 August improved conditions, yet Wallonia’s drought-monitoring cell said much of the territory south of the Sambre-and-Meuse line remained extremely dry and that fire danger persisted particularly in open environments.

There are two legitimate instincts in the recovery debate. Tourism operators, runners and residents want safe access restored because the plateau supports local recreation and hospitality. Conservation staff and emergency planners argue that premature access could restart fires, expose visitors to unstable ground and interfere with wildlife assessment. These positions are not mutually exclusive: reopening can proceed sector by sector when the SPW, Département de la Nature et des Forêts and relevant communes judge it safe.

The longer-term ecological outcome remains uncertain. Early observations reported by the SPW found no major wildlife emergency and animals were still being seen in secured sectors, but comprehensive field assessments must wait for safe access. Investigators have begun examining the cause, which had not been officially established by 23 August. The next dependable milestones will be a revised perimeter estimate, phased changes to the access order, results of ecological and water monitoring, and findings from the origin investigation. Until then, the most useful way to grasp the visualised extent of the High Fens fire—and to help the landscape recover—is to compare the map with your commune from home, not from inside the cordon.