Firefighters battle High Fens wildfire across Belgian-German border as 3,000 hectares burn
Emergency services in Belgium and Germany are working to encircle a 3,000-hectare blaze in the High Fens nature reserve, deploying tracked vehicles and containment lines near Monschau as smoke drifts over 100 kilometres.
Containment efforts along the border
Belgian and German emergency crews are working to contain the fire across the High Fens nature reserve after the blaze consumed roughly 3,000 hectares of peat bogs and pine forest. The fire, which began on 14 August 2026, is the largest recorded in Belgium since 1911. Around 500 firefighters mobilized to encircle the burning zone, with 170 personnel operating in a three-shift rotation near the Belgian-German frontier. Rain on Tuesday and Wednesday slowed the outward spread of the flames, though dense smoke and a low cloud ceiling grounded water-bombing aircraft after an early reconnaissance flight was aborted. Operations are concentrated on the north-eastern flank of the perimeter, located 2.3 kilometres from the German border. Monschau fire department spokesperson Tobias Schell described the operational focus as crews worked along the active line.
The goal is to push back the fires and keep the areas we have saved so far fire-free.
Peat bog conditions and specialised response
Extinguishing the blaze in the High Fens presents severe logistical challenges due to deep underground smouldering across peat layers. Belgian firefighter David Covens explained that flames have penetrated deep into the subterranean soil, creating hidden hotspots that can smoulder undetected for extended periods. To penetrate the terrain, emergency services in North Rhine-Westphalia deployed a specialized tracked vehicle capable of spraying 30,000 litres of water per hour across soft bog surfaces. Ground teams are digging firebreaks and scraping away topsoil and vegetation along the border to lay water supply lines directly into unreachable zones. Belgian government spokesperson Nicolas Yernaux warned that fully dousing the terrain will require massive amounts of water over an extended period.
Just because you can no longer see flames, the fire is still there.
- Wildfire begins in the High Fens nature reserve, consuming peat bogs and pine forest.
- Authorities evacuate roughly 30 residents from the German border village of Kalterherberg.
- Evacuation orders are lifted for residents in the Belgian village of Sourbrodt.
- Belgian and German crews push to encircle the fire as smoke spreads over 100 kilometres into Germany.
- Firefighters focus containment efforts on the north-eastern flank 2.3 kilometres from the German border.
Cross-border smoke and evacuations
The smoke generated by the smouldering peat traveled more than 100 kilometres across western Germany, triggering air quality warnings and public safety notices. Authorities in Monschau, Simmerath, and Roetgen advised residents to keep windows and doors closed, turn off ventilation systems, and keep domestic animals inside. In Cologne and Wuppertal, local fire brigades declared large-scale odor advisories after receiving numerous emergency calls from residents, though officials noted no immediate toxicity threat. The Federal Environment Agency recorded elevated fine particulate concentrations across parts of North Rhine-Westphalia, Rhineland-Palatinate, Saarland, and Frankfurt am Main. Approximately 30 residents evacuated from Monschau-Kalterherberg on 16 August remained displaced as a precaution, while residents of the Belgian village of Sourbrodt were cleared to return to their homes on 17 August.
Ecological damage and recovery timeline
The High Fens reserve is characterized by marshy peat bogs and pine forests that suffer prolonged damage from subterranean fires. The environmental organization WWF warned of extensive ecological destruction across the nature reserve. Belgian Interior Minister Bernard Quintin stated that emergency crews must continue soaking and extinguishing the area over an extended period to prevent flames from flaring up again. Corentin Rousseau of WWF Belgium addressed the long recovery timeline for the impacted habitat.
It will take decades for nature to recover.
Belgian officials project that dousing and flooding the deep peat layers with hundreds of thousands of litres of water could require weeks or months of continuous effort.
