Peat and pine plantations turned the High Fens fire into a national catastrophe

Updated 18 August 2026, 10:00 CEST — A wildfire that started near Baelen in Liège province on Friday, 14 August, has burned about 3,000 hectares of the High Fens and remained uncontrolled at the latest verified operational update on Monday. The Associated Press reported that rain and cooler weather had slowed the flames, while firefighters continued working around peatland and pine forest roughly eight kilometres from Germany.

About 600 residents of Waimes and Bütgenbach were instructed to leave on Saturday as shifting winds carried fire and smoke towards inhabited areas, according to AP. Liège governor Hervé Jamar said more than 250 emergency personnel were deployed, including Belgian and German firefighters, police officers, soldiers and civil-protection teams. No death has been reported in the verified sources reviewed for this article.

The scale of the damage reflects more than the exceptional drought. The High Fens contain peat formed from partially decomposed vegetation over thousands of years. AP cited a forest ranger who warned that fire can continue underground in this material for months and later return to the surface. Peat also stores carbon and supports specialised habitats, making losses harder to reverse than damage from an ordinary surface fire.

The landscape’s planting history added another layer of vulnerability. An official East Belgium tourism publication says large areas of open peatland were planted with spruce from the Prussian period beginning around 1840; conifers now account for about 90% of the wooded area. Dense, dry plantations give flames vertically connected fuel, while historic drainage for forestry dries the peat beneath them. That combination explains why the fire became a catastrophe once it entered woodland.

The forestry legacy is now under scrutiny. Ecologists quoted by Het Nieuwsblad argue that commercial forestry should not take place on peat soils because drainage damages the ecosystem and raises fire risk. The opposing practical consideration is that spruce plantations have long supplied timber to sawmills, paper producers and panel manufacturers, according to the East Belgium publication. Restoring open, wet peatland therefore requires long-term land-use choices rather than emergency repairs alone.

Wallonia’s environment administration says the High Fens become especially vulnerable when vegetation is dry and weather conditions are unfavourable. It recorded the previous Walloon benchmark fire there in April 2011, when 1,200 hectares burned. Authorities must now extinguish underground hotspots, assess damage to peat and protected habitats, determine the ignition source and decide where rewetting or forest conversion should begin. Public access restrictions remain the immediate practical concern; visitors should avoid the affected zone and follow official instructions.