Fuego Volcano in Guatemala Erupts, Forcing Evacuation of Over 200 Families

Fuego Volcano in Guatemala.

Volcanic activity in the region.

Hundreds of families ordered to evacuate.

The Fuego Volcano in Guatemala erupted early this Monday, March 10.

This forced the evacuation of 282 families, the closure of a road, and the suspension of classes in four municipalities.

The National Coordinator for Disaster Reduction (Conred) raised its activity alert level from green to orange.

And announced early this Monday the evacuation of residents from several communities on the volcano’s slopes to shelters in the municipality of San Juan Alotenango, in the department of Sacatepéquez.

The Fuego Volcano Eruption in Guatemala Causes Evacuations

Fuego Volcano in Guatemala Erupts – Photo: The Associated Press

The agency said on Monday morning that just over 280 people had been moved to local shelters.

Early Sunday night, authorities began alerting to an increase in activity.

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Which gradually intensified and finally erupted with incandescent fragments, rumbling, and ash.

On Monday, lava could be seen, as well as dense smoke columns rising into the sky.

The Fuego Volcano is one of the three most dangerous and active volcanoes in the country and is located between the departments of Sacatepéquez, Escuintla, and Chimaltenango, in south-central Guatemala.

Claudinne Ugalde, secretary of Conred, said that at least 30,000 people are at risk and their evacuation has been requested.

«Roughly 30,000 people are at risk around these three departments and we are trying to get them to evacuate or self-evacuate so they don’t suffer any harm,» said Ugalde.

Isaac García, 43, decided to evacuate the area along with his wife and children, his mother, and siblings, according to ‘The Associated Press’.

«I’m a bit worried because, a few years ago, the volcano was active and because of the tragedy that happened in San Miguel Los Lotes, so we better leave and evacuate,» he said from the shelter in Alotenango.

The agency indicated that the volcano had not registered eruptions since June 2023. Ashfall occurs several kilometers away.

In June 2018, the Fuego Volcano had an explosion that wiped out several communities living on its slopes.

And ended up killing hundreds of people in one of the most severe natural disasters in the country’s recent history.

ERUPTIONS shake Guatemala

The eruption of the Fuego Volcano in Guatemala caused the evacuation of at least 300 families and has put 30,000 people on alert. The ashes reached 7,000 meters high, leading to the suspension of classes in several municipalities pic.twitter.com/ycfmzayusr

– Reportajes_Tinta (@reportajestinta) March 10, 2025

Volcanic activity began on Sunday, June 3 in the morning, while families were gathering for lunch.

Quickly, a gigantic ball of ash and pyroclastic flow began descending from the volcano’s crater, enveloping everything in its path.

Families assert that thousands of people were buried without record.

«The activity at the Fuego Volcano has caused the descent of pyroclastic flows in the ravines Las Lajas, El Jute, Seca, and Ceniza, (on the slopes) being of weak and moderate characteristics,» said CONRED.

«But likely to increase,» it noted before the population displacement began.

The Ministry of Education announced the suspension of classes in four municipalities of Alotenango.

In Escuintla and Siquinalá, in the department of Escuintla, and in San Pedro Yepocapa, in Chimaltenango.

On the other hand, authorities closed Route 14, adjacent to the volcano, and prohibited climbing the Acatenango volcano, one of the most visited and close to the Fuego Volcano.

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PHOTO: MundoNOW