EU, record requests to fight fires - Reach the same level as the total of the summer of 2024
Requests for solidarity from the European Union to fight forest fires have reached this week the same level as the total for the entire fire season for 2024, the European Commission announced.
“In total, this mechanism has been activated 16 times during the current season and we are only in mid-August,” a European Commission spokeswoman said. “This is already equal to the total number of activations during the entire summer season last year,” she added.
Spain became the latest country to request help from the mechanism, making its first-ever request for European solidarity against forest fires. At least three people have died in Spain, including a volunteer firefighter, as the flames swept through the northwestern province of Leon.
Bulgaria, Montenegro, Albania and Greece also requested assistance this week. Spain and Greece, traditionally hard hit by forest fires, are among the EU member states where foreign firefighters have been deployed since July. France and Portugal have also welcomed foreign teams.
In total, 650 firefighters from 14 European countries have been pre-deployed to at-risk areas, the highest number since the start of this scheme in 2022. Other European countries that have activated this mechanism during the year include Cyprus, Bosnia and Herzegovina, and North Macedonia.
The mechanism works like this: a country in need of assistance notifies the European Emergency Response Coordination Centre (ERCC) of its needs, and other participating countries can contribute individually by providing equipment and personnel. The EU Civil Protection then coordinates the deployment of assistance and covers the costs. France, which last month faced the worst wildfires in a decade in the southern coastal department of Aude, did not request additional European assistance.
“It is the decision of the member state whether to request assistance or not. Larger countries usually have sufficient capacities and have increased measures due to climate change and more frequent fires,” the European Commission spokeswoman explained. “Often this measure is more useful for smaller countries. We receive requests from the Western Balkans, Albania, Montenegro, Macedonia. For these countries, assistance can be very vital,” she added.
More than 511,000 hectares of forest have been destroyed by fires across the EU as of August 12, according to the European Forest Fire Information System, which is more than double the average recorded in the same period during 2006-2024. The number of fires recorded since the beginning of the year has reached over 1,600, an increase from the average of 717 fires in the same period over the past 20 years.
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