High Fens roads to reopen on Tuesday as wildfire restrictions remain

Walloon authorities are due to reopen three major roads across the High Fens

Place

High Fens

Protected upland landscape affected by the wildfire, road closures and continuing public-access restrictions.

Why it matters

Protected upland landscape affected by the wildfire, road closures and continuing public-access restrictions.

About

The High Fens, which were declared a nature reserve in 1957, are an upland area, a plateau region in Liège Province, in the east of Belgium and adjoining parts of northwestern Germany, between the Ardennes and the Eifel highlands. The High Fens are the largest nature reserve or park in Belgium, with an area of 4,501.2 ha ; it lies within the German-Belgian natural park Hohes Venn-Eifel, in the Ardennes.

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For residents, cross-border commuters and tourism businesses in eastern Belgium, the decision removes the last major roadblocks imposed during the fire. It should shorten journeys that have been diverted around the plateau, often via the E42 or routes through Germany. It does not, however, reopen the High Fens nature reserve. Drivers may use the roads, but walkers, cyclists and sightseers must continue to respect barriers around forests, paths and fire-damaged areas.

That distinction matters because the fire is under control but not extinguished. In its Monday morning update, the Walloon Government said local flare-ups had required renewed intervention overnight. Between 140 and 160 firefighters, police officers, civil-protection personnel, soldiers, forestry agents and Red Cross staff had worked across the site on Sunday, chiefly in the eastern sector. Wallonia’s environment administration also reported that visitors had continued to enter the prohibited perimeter, where some were intercepted and fined.

The fire began near Baelen at about 13:00 on 14 August and affected roughly 3,000 hectares, according to the Belgian Defence Ministry. All residents evacuated from Sourbrodt, Küchelscheid and Leykaul were allowed home by 19 August, and the fire was subsequently brought under overall control. Its cause remains unknown.

The terrain explains why restrictions outlast the visible flames. The Defence Ministry said peat can continue burning beneath the surface, while soft ground prevents heavy vehicles from leaving established roads. Walloon officials list further hazards: unstable trees and branches, smoke, renewed combustion and old wartime ammunition that may have been exposed. The damaged wildlife habitat also needs protection from additional disturbance.

The reopening therefore marks a mobility decision, not the end of the emergency. The N68, N676 and N672 give access across the plateau and past places such as Mont Rigi and Signal de Botrange, but they also form working corridors for emergency crews. Police signage and any local instructions will remain decisive if conditions change.

The crisis has also become a test of European disaster cooperation. Belgium activated the EU Civil Protection Mechanism on 15 August. The European Commission coordinated two firefighting aircraft from Sweden, six helicopters from the Netherlands, Germany and Norway, specialist teams from the Netherlands and Spain, and Copernicus emergency mapping. Belgian EU Commissioner Hadja Lahbib is scheduled to visit the High Fens and the neighbouring German area around Monschau on Tuesday, meeting responders, authorities and affected communities.

Lahbib described the destruction as evidence that wildfire risk is changing across Europe. Federal Climate Minister Jean-Luc Crucke has similarly argued that Belgium must move from reacting to disasters towards science-led anticipation, pointing to federal support for the FIRE4BE research project. Their emphasis goes beyond the immediate traffic update: a peatland fire requiring international aircraft challenges the old assumption that severe wildfire preparedness is mainly a southern European concern.

For now, residents and businesses gain back essential road connections while nature access remains tightly controlled. Authorities will continue watching for underground hotspots, smoke and environmental contamination. The next decisions will concern when forest paths can safely reopen, how the burned peatland and heath will be restored, and what the investigation can establish about the fire’s origin.