High Fens wildfire burns 3,000 hectares as European aircraft reinforce Belgian crews

Updated 17 August 2026, 10:00 CEST — Belgian and international crews were fighting a wildfire across about 3,000 hectares of the High Fens in eastern Belgium on Sunday, after authorities evacuated roughly 600 residents from Waimes and Bütgenbach. The Associated Press reported that the blaze remained active near the German border, while Belgium activated the EU Civil Protection Mechanism to obtain aircraft and other foreign assistance.

More than 250 emergency personnel were deployed, according to a statement from Liège provincial governor Hervé Jamar cited by AP. The operation included over 100 Belgian and German firefighters alongside police officers, military personnel and Civil Protection teams. Belgian federal police and Dutch helicopters also supported the response.

EU Crisis Management Commissioner Hadja Lahbib said Sweden was sending two water-bombing aircraft, while the Netherlands and the Czech Republic were providing three helicopters. The European Commission describes the mechanism as a system through which a country facing an overwhelming emergency requests operational assistance coordinated by the EU’s Emergency Response Coordination Centre.

The fire followed prolonged hot and dry conditions. Temperatures reached about 37°C in parts of Belgium on Friday, according to AP. Walloon Public Service spokesperson Nicolas Yernaux said the unusually dry ground had allowed the fire to penetrate more deeply than in previous High Fens incidents. René Dahmen of Wallonia’s Department of Nature and Forest said the eastern edge was still advancing on Sunday through terrain that crews struggled to reach.

Interior Minister Bernard Quintin said responders had prevented westward expansion and movement towards the German town of Monschau. German authorities nevertheless placed the fire at about 1.5 kilometres from the border on Sunday, AP reported. Around 600 residents had received evacuation instructions, tourists were advised to leave, and a gymnasium was opened for displaced people.

The affected area already exceeds the scale of the April 2011 High Fens fire. A Walloon government briefing identifies that earlier event, which burned about 1,200 hectares, as the region’s previous benchmark; updated European Forest Fire Information System data cited by AP places its footprint near 1,400 hectares.

Crews are concentrating on the eastern fire line and any concealed combustion in dry vegetation and peat. The next official assessments must establish whether the perimeter has stopped expanding, when evacuated residents can return and how much protected habitat has been lost. The cause of the fire has not been confirmed.