Belgian Fire Under Control After Seven Days. Minister Defended in Committee, Opposition Demands Special Commission

A fire in the Belgian High Fens that has been burning since August 14 is under control after seven days of firefighting efforts. According to the services of the governor of Liège Province, it should not spread further if weather conditions hold. La Libre ↗ On the same day, Interior and Security Minister Bernard Quintin faced questions in a parliamentary committee about whether the country was prepared for such a fire, and the opposition Parti Socialiste called for a special commission. Firefighters also rescued a live male black grouse from the burned area — news that conservationists had doubted two days earlier, given doubts about the bird's return to the Fens.

Day Seven

The crucial work was not done by water from above, but by earth. Rescue teams excavated a gravel-reinforced circular road in the terrain, allowing vehicles to drive around the entire fire site. La Libre ↗

Weather across the German border also helped. After a rainy night in Germany's Eifel region, firefighters from the Aachen metropolitan area significantly reduced their deployment on the Belgian side. La Libre ↗

The Red Cross maintained the operational base for seven days — continuously and with over 4,500 meals served. La Libre ↗

The declaration of control came only in the afternoon, however. That morning, Quintin told the committee the fire was not completely under control, and a VTM reporter from the site described the situation as still fragile. De Standaard ↗ Het Laatste Nieuws ↗

The Grouse That Survived

Thursday morning, firefighters rescued a live male black grouse from the burned zone — the news was released by the governor's services in the afternoon. La Libre ↗ De Morgen called it in its live coverage a symbol of High Fens. De Morgen ↗

This carries weight that a photo of the bird alone would not reveal. As we cited in the previous article, conservationists described the destruction of fauna and flora at the fire site as catastrophic and said they were starting from zero — and it was precisely about the black grouse that it was heard then that it might never return to the Fens.

Read also: Belgian fire burns underground and water is not enough. The peatland dried out because it was drained

Minister Defended, Opposition Demands Commission

Quintin defended his position before the interior committee based on chronology: the timeline, according to him, shows that units proceeded systematically from the first hours. De Morgen ↗ He rejected the image of an unprepared country with a sentence that is both an admission and an argument: no country maintains such capacity around the clock continuously. De Standaard ↗

Socialists from the opposition benches called for a special parliamentary commission on this year's fires. La Libre ↗

Pushback also came, and from close at hand. Federal Member of Parliament and mayor of Jalhay Victoria Vandeberg — from the municipality directly at the fire site — called it unworthy if anyone runs a campaign on still-warm ashes. La Libre ↗

Political oversight can thus begin on two levels simultaneously, though the federal commission remains only an opposition request. In the Walloon Parliament, the general affairs committee will meet on Wednesday at nine La Libre ↗ and Minister of Mobility and Climate Jean-Luc Crucke announced he will request an in-depth evaluation of crisis management. 7sur7 ↗

Crucke and Quintin, meanwhile, sit in the same government: Quintin defended the course of the intervention before the committee, Crucke on the same day announced its subsequent in-depth evaluation.

What Is Returning to Normal

High Fens are returning to regular operation in stages. Lake Bütgenbach is no longer being used by firefighting aircraft and helicopters, so normal activities can resume. La Libre ↗

Spa Monopole announced that the fire had no impact on the quality of its waters or on its operations. La Libre ↗

The weather that helped firefighters, meanwhile, caused different damage in the same area — a small tornado in a village near High Fens destroyed a house that partially collapsed. Het Laatste Nieuws ↗

Limits of This Perspective

"Under control" is not the same as "extinguished." At a peatland, it is a difference with its own physics — fire smolders beneath the surface and declaring it extinguished can take days to weeks. The difference between the morning's "not quite" and the afternoon's "under control" is on the same day and should be read as progressive relaxation, not as the end.

No one has determined the cause. The prosecutor in Liège is still investigating how the fire started and has not confirmed any version.

The political framework itself is controversial. Vandeberg's objection is not a neutral position — it is the voice of a ruling party member of parliament and simultaneously the mayor of the affected municipality, aimed at the same commission proposal submitted by the opposition. Neither of these says who is right about the intervention.

And most of the Dutch-language reporting from this day comes from live broadcasts that are transcribed throughout the day. The quoted sentences correspond to the state Thursday evening.

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