Guatemala's Fuego volcano erupts, forcing hundreds to evacuate as red alert declared
The Volcán de Fuego, Central America's most active volcano, began erupting Monday morning and intensified overnight, forcing the evacuation of at least 500 people from two villages and prompting a red alert for three Guatemalan departments.
Eruption and alert levels
The Volcán de Fuego, a 3,763-metre stratovolcano located about 35 kilometres southwest of Guatemala City, entered an eruptive phase on the morning of Monday, 3 August 2026. Activity intensified sharply during the night, with lava fountains rising 200 to 300 metres above the crater and columns of gas and ash reaching between 5,000 and 7,000 metres above sea level. Pyroclastic flows descended the southern and southwestern flanks, prompting the National Institute of Seismology, Volcanology, Meteorology and Hydrology (INSIVUMEH) to warn that the "increment in the number and size of these currents" toward the base of the volcano remained the main threat to nearby communities.
After an orange alert on Monday, the departmental governments of Sacatepéquez, Chimaltenango and Escuintla raised their own levels to red on Tuesday. Claudinne Ogaldes, executive secretary of the National Coordinator for Disaster Reduction (Conred), said the change did not mean the institutions had been overwhelmed but was meant to press those who had still not left. Conred executive secretary Claudinne Ogaldes urged families in the risk zone to move voluntarily to shelters, stating they would find "care, support and safe conditions while volcanic activity continues."
- Volcán de Fuego enters eruptive phase, expelling lava and ash.
- Eruption intensifies; lava fountains reach 200-300 m, ash column up to 7,000 m. Evacuation of El Porvenir and Las Lajitas begins.
- Red alert in Sacatepéquez, Chimaltenango and Escuintla; Conred counts 1,421 evacuated to five shelters and more than 29,000 affected by ashfall.
- National Route 14 closed; schools suspended in three municipalities. Ash disperses up to 130 km west.
Evacuations and shelters
Authorities ordered the preventive evacuation of the hamlets of El Porvenir and Las Lajitas in the municipality of San Juan Alotenango, east of the volcano. At least 500 residents were transported by bus to a communal hall in the urban centre of San Juan Alotenango, where makeshift beds were set up. By midday on Tuesday, Conred put the count at 1,421 people evacuated to five shelters, with more than 29,000 affected by ashfall and 18 communities under direct impact: Panimaché I and II, Morelia, Sangre de Cristo, Yepocapa, Ceilán, La Rochela, Quizaché, El Campamento, La Soledad, Santa María, El Zapote, Don Pancho, La Reina, Granja Toledo, La Candelaria, El Porvenir and Alotenango. Ogaldes said the evacuees were receiving hot meals and support from the Ministry of Social Development at four sites in Escuintla department: the sports centre in Santa Lucía Cotzumalguapa, the Abner Casasola gymnasium and two schools. No damage to homes had been reported by the time of her briefing.
We are used to the volcano always being active, but this time it was too much.
Many evacuees left with only a handful of clothes and food. Alejandro García, a 68-year-old resident of El Porvenir, said the volcano had been active since morning and that "at night they gave the alert to evacuate." He added, "We ran out in fear" after seeing lava descending the slopes.
Transport and school closures
National Route 14, which circles the volcano and connects the southern coast with the colonial city of Antigua, was closed by traffic police. The Ministry of Education suspended in-person classes in communities of three municipalities: Alotenango in Sacatepéquez, Escuintla in Escuintla, and Yepocapa in Chimaltenango. Despite the disruption, Guatemala City's international airport remained operational, and the road to Antigua was later reopened.
Ash dispersed up to 130 kilometres west of the volcano, carried by winds at altitudes of 5,000 to 6,000 metres. INSIVUMEH advised that the intensity of the eruptions and ash dispersion was expected to decrease within 24 to 72 hours. Its forecast for 4 to 6 August named the Ceniza, Las Lajas and Honda ravines as the channels most exposed to lahars, the flows of ash, rock and water that did most of the killing in 2018.
Historical context and local fears
The eruption revived memories of the 3 June 2018 disaster, when the same volcano produced a violent eruption that killed 215 people, left a similar number missing, and destroyed an entire community. A 2025 eruptive phase prompted about 500 evacuations, and in 2023 roughly 1,200 people were displaced. Lidia Ortiz, a 40-year-old sheltering in San Juan Alotenango, voiced a common anxiety: "If there were possibilities to change houses it would be better, because you have that fear that the volcano doesn't warn; at the least expected moment it starts erupting."
Outlook
Conred maintained the red alert and continued monitoring the volcano's behaviour. Firefighter Édwin de León said teams had been tracking the activity since morning and carried out the evacuation by bus once the direction of pyroclastic material shifted. No casualties had been reported by Tuesday, and authorities focused on keeping residents away from the danger zone while the eruption ran its course.
