Agricultural machinery suspected in massive Hautes Fagnes wildfire

A devastating wildfire that ravaged over 3,000 hectares of the Hautes Fagnes nature reserve in Belgium's Liège province may have been sparked by agricultural machinery, according to media investigations. The intense blaze, which required over a week of firefighting efforts, was finally brought "under control" but left a significant environmental scar.

Investigations by RTBF, using aerial images taken on August 14, pinpointed the fire's origin to a plot of land along a path known as "l'allée du grand fossé." Satellite imagery confirmed that mowing work had been carried out in the area between August 10 and August 14. Nicolas Yernaux, a spokesperson for the Walloon Public Service (SPW), confirmed that mowing is a technique used by the Department of Nature and Forests (DNF) to restore biodiversity in the Hautes Fagnes.

"It will be up to the investigation to determine if this hypothesis of agricultural machinery being at the origin of the fire is confirmed or refuted, but there was indeed agricultural machinery working at that location," Yernaux told RTBF. The parquet of the King's Prosecutor in Liège indicated that this is one of the theories being pursued, although a final report is expected to take several months.

Notably, the mowing work in recent years has been contracted out to private companies rather than being handled directly by the DNF. Jean-Luc Evrard, director of a company involved in such mowing operations, commented on the machinery used. He noted that "small sparks, small orange spots can appear if there is contact with a stone," especially when working at night. He expressed dismay that a contractor with such machinery was apparently engaged under known drought conditions, calling the situation "scandalous."

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It will be up to the investigation to determine if this hypothesis of agricultural machinery being at the origin of the fire is confirmed or refuted, but there was indeed agricultural machinery working at that location.