Firefighters launched a potentially decisive push Tuesday (August 18, 2026) to encircle Belgium’s largest wildfire in a century, despite wind and rain hampering air backing operations over the High Fens nature reserve.
The blaze charring the vast expanse of boggy peatlands, pine trees and hiking trails grew over the weekend to half the size of Manhattan, 3,000 hectares (7,500 acres), with hundreds of firefighters working night and day to wrestle it under control.
“We are trying to definitively encircle the fire today (August 18),” regional government spokesperson Nicolas Yernaux informed AFP
In areas where firefighters could operate, he confirmed the fire was “under control and contained.”
A Belgian firefighter in a field affected by a wildfire in the High Fens region, Belgium | Photo Credit: Rueters
But a hard-to-access front towards the German border remains a concern, with residents in the border town of Monschau already under evacuation orders due to the smoke hazard.
Firefighters worked through the night to make a crucial link-up between the eastern and northern fronts, under highly difficult access conditions.
“We’re talking about one or two kilometres, and we’re on the verge of achieving it,” Mr. Yernaux told AFP, despite “sustained winds” blowing towards the German border.
Water-bombing aircraft from several countries have been deployed, with two Norwegian helicopters the latest to fly in on Monday (August 17) night, but they have been repeatedly grounded by low cloud and rain. There are also aircraft from Germany, Sweden and the Netherlands.
Mr. Yernaux said it was unclear given weather conditions when they would be be able to take off again.
“There may be windows of opportunity this morning, but it may not be before tonight.”
A huge area has been blanketed by a thick plume of yellowish smoke, with fumes detected as far as eastern France, where authorities issued an air-pollution alert.
The smoke triggered evacuations in one Belgian village and two hamlets of a second, with residents of the hamlet of Sourbrodt given the green light to return home on Monday (August 17) night.
Belgian firefighters work in a forest affected by a wildfire in the High Fens region, Belgium | Photo Credit: Reuters
Europe has been swept by weeks of devastating wildfires fuelled by dry conditions and a historically hot summer, with France, Greece, Portugal and Spain also battling major fires.
The High Fens blaze broke out in an area that was ravaged by massive fires in 1911, during a similar period of heatwaves.
It is the country’s largest wildfire since.
During a visit on site with King Philippe on Monday (August 17), Belgium’s Interior Minister Bernard Quintin told the media it could take “several weeks” of soaking and dousing the area to prevent the fire from reigniting, even once brought under control.
On-site operations have been made much harder by the fens’ terrain, a patchwork of heath, peat bogs and raised wooden boardwalks where heavy vehicles risk sinking into the ground, and firefighters struggle to tackle the fire at close range.
A Belgian firefighter stands among charred tree stumps in a forested area affected by a wildfire in the High Fens region, Belgium | Photo Credit: Reuters
They have been counting heavily on aerial assistance to bring the situation under control.
Local farmers have also poured in to assist, working shifts to oversee a ballet of tractors pulling in tankers of water from a nearby lake.
“We’ll take it in turns as long as it needs — the team is all set,” a farmer from nearby Waremme told AFP Monday (August 17). “We’ll keep going until the finish line.”
Like much of Europe, Belgium has experienced a new spell of intense heat and drought in recent days.
Temperatures reached as high as 37C in some parts of the country last week, creating conditions conducive to wildfire outbreaks
Published – August 18, 2026 05:04 pm IST
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