The wildfires in the Hautes Fagnes had already ravaged more than 2,000 hectares on Saturday, forcing about 600 inhabitants from Waimes and Bütgenbach to leave their homes as emergency crews tried to hold the line.
By Saturday evening, Nancy Ferroni said around forty evacuated residents would spend the night at the reception center in the Malmedy sports hall, even though most of the others had already found shelter with relatives or friends. The Croix-Rouge center had room for 600 people, and the Service d'intervention psychosociale urgente had three experts there in the late afternoon, with two more due to join them for the night.
That scale explains why the fire was drawing attention far beyond the ridge itself. The blaze was described as historic near Baelen and Waimes, and authorities in Montjoie asked residents of Ruitzhof, Leyloch, Vennhof, Haus Sonnentau and Plattevenn to prepare for possible evacuation. It was one of those days when the map kept widening: the same fire that had already burned several hundred hectares in the morning was still forcing new precautions as evening fell.
The crisis also reached a group of 53 children aged 9 to 10 who had started a Kazou camp in Ovifat on Friday, just as the fire began. Their camp was due to end early on Sunday, and the children were moved temporarily to Wanne in Trois-Ponts, but that refuge was available only until Monday. The narrow window left little room for uncertainty, and it underscored how quickly a summer camp could be folded into an emergency response.
There is still one question the fire has not answered: what started it, and when will it finally be under control. Philippe spoke with the acting governor of the province of Liège on Saturday evening about the evolution of the fires in the Hautes Fagnes, and he expressed gratitude to the rescue services, the Defense, the farmers of the region and the German firefighters who came as reinforcements. For the residents who spent the night away from home, the next step is not a date on a calendar but whether the lines hold through the night and into the day after.
