Guatemala’s National Coordinator for Disaster Reduction reported that approximately 1,700 people who fled villages near the Fuego volcano remained in shelters on August 5 as officials maintained evacuations until conditions improve. The agency raised the alert level to red for Sacatepéquez, Escuintla and Chimaltenango, where ashfall has affected about 29,000 residents and forced school closures. CONRED warned that the next 72 hours would prove critical, with incoming rain expected to increase the risk of additional mudflows extending up to 7 kilometers from the summit.
CONRED executive secretary Claudinne Ogaldes stated that the mudflows had not reached any villages and that no structures had been damaged or placed at immediate risk. She recommended that residents in the three municipalities cover their water deposits and use face masks as protection from the ash. The guidance followed an eruption that began the previous morning, producing clouds of gas and ash along with lava and pyroclastic flows down the slopes.
Additional mud and ash emissions continued into the second day, CONRED reported, with around 250 people evacuated from El Porvenir and the hamlet of Las Lajitas. Ash spread to nearby towns, leading authorities to close National Route 14, the major highway passing close to the volcano. The Education Ministry suspended classes in affected communities as part of the safety measures.
Data from the Smithsonian Institution’s Global Volcanism Program show that Fuego has maintained near-continuous eruptive phases since January 2002, establishing it as one of Central America’s most active volcanoes. Its June 2018 paroxysm, the most powerful since 1974, killed at least 165 people with hundreds more missing while affecting more than 1.7 million residents across three central departments and destroying one village entirely, according to World Vision International. That event highlighted the persistent hazards around the 3,763-meter stratovolcano located 16 kilometers west of Antigua.
Guatemala’s Instituto Nacional de Sismología, Vulcanología, Meteorología e Hidrología recorded frequent explosions and ash plumes rising over a kilometer during eruptive activity earlier in 2026. Preventive evacuations were also ordered during an eruption the previous year, CONRED figures indicate. Officials have continued monitoring the volcano with seismic networks and webcams to track developments in real time.
CONRED has emphasised that the current evacuations focus on communities in drainages with a history of impacts from pyroclastic flows and lahars at Fuego. The agency’s tallies confirm that evacuations will persist until volcanic activity subsides and risks diminish. Residents have been instructed to follow all updates from authorities amid the evolving situation.
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