Guatemalan authorities have ordered the preventive evacuation of communities surrounding the Fuego volcano after an eruption that began on Monday intensified through the night, sending torrents of lava, billowing ash columns, and superheated pyroclastic flows sweeping down its slopes. In response to the escalating volcanic activity, the National Coordinating Agency for Disaster Reduction (CONRED) declared a nationwide orange alert—the country's second-highest emergency warning level—and initiated emergency protocols across surrounding municipalities.
The preventive evacuations focused on the village of El Porvenir and the hamlet of Las Lajitas, both located in the municipality of San Juan Alotenango along the volcano's southeastern and southwestern flanks. Emergency personnel coordinated the relocation of roughly 50 families, comprising approximately 250 residents, to temporary shelters as a precaution against fast-moving pyroclastic density currents surging through local ravines, including Seca, Ceniza, and Las Lajas.
Reports from the Guatemalan Seismology, Vulcanology, Weather and Water Institute (INSIVUMEH) indicated that the eruption experienced a surge in explosiveness, generating lava fountains reaching heights between 200 and 300 meters above the crater rim. Ash plumes rising 5,000 to 6,000 meters into the atmosphere were projected to spread up to 100 kilometers west and northwest, threatening nearby agricultural communities with heavy ash fall.
To safeguard public safety, national authorities closed National Route 14 (RN-14), a critical highway linking southern regions to the historic colonial city of Antigua, after volcanic debris began descending near the roadway. The Ministry of Education also suspended in-person school classes across nearby towns. CONRED urged residents across affected zones to keep doors and windows tightly closed, secure drinking water supplies, and prepare 72-hour emergency kits as monitoring continues.
Fuego, situated approximately 16 kilometers west of the UNESCO World Heritage city of Antigua and 35 kilometers southwest of Guatemala City, remains one of the most active stratovolcanoes in the Western Hemisphere. The current activity has heightened vigilance among officials and locals, recalling the catastrophic June 2018 eruption where rapid pyroclastic flows swept through the Las Lajas ravine, destroying the village of San Miguel Los Lotes and killing more than 200 people.
