A wildfire burning in Belgium's High Fens nature reserve stopped its advance toward the German border by Monday morning, August 17, 2026, according to firefighters, after some 30 residents from 17 homes in the Eifel town of Monschau were evacuated overnight as a precaution.
Belgian wildfire halts advance toward Germany; river shipping threatens construction supply
A wildfire burning in Belgium's High Fens nature reserve stopped its advance toward the German border by Monday morning, August 17, 2026, according to firefighters, after some 30 residents from 17 homes in the Eifel town of Monschau were evacuated overnight as a precaution.
The fire had previously come within approximately 300 meters (984 feet) of the German border. A spokesman for the local fire brigade said meadows between the fire and nearby homes were soaked with water for hours to help halt the spread of the flames. Emergency accommodation was set up at a nearby school for displaced residents. The fire in Belgium has burned approximately 3,000 hectares in total.
Separately, construction industry associations warned on August 17, 2026, that falling water levels on German rivers, including the Rhine, are forcing cargo ships to reduce their loads, potentially causing supply shortfalls for the building sector. Sand, gravel, bitumen, aggregate, natural stone, fuels, and mineral construction waste are among the materials affected, according to the associations.
Thomas Reimann, president of an association representing construction contractors in the German state of Hesse, told the DPA news agency that transport by water was becoming increasingly difficult and that sand and gravel shipped in large quantities to concrete plants were becoming harder to obtain and more expensive.
Tim-Oliver Müller, chief executive of the German Construction Industry Federation (HDB), said it was unlikely that construction would be brought to a widespread halt, but that the risk of shortages, higher logistics costs, and delays was growing as low water levels persisted. The HDB also said suppliers had already warned that continued low water levels could lead to shortages in some building supplies.
- The source does not state the cause or point of origin of the Belgian wildfire.
- The source does not specify the current status of firefighting operations inside Belgium or how many personnel are deployed.
- The source does not state when or whether evacuated Monschau residents were permitted to return to their homes.
- The source does not provide current measured water levels on the Rhine or other affected rivers, nor the authority that recorded them.
- The source does not quantify the extent to which cargo loads have been reduced on Rhine shipping.
- The source text supplied appears truncated; some material may be missing.
Read the original at Deutsche Welle