European summers have become synonymous with forest blazes, but emergency services are overwhelmed
Wildfire season has long become a feature of summer in Europe, but although the emergency is no surprise in a warming world, national response teams have still been caught out by the scale and speed with which blazes swept across France and Spain.
The fires, which have been raging for the past week and required the evacuation of over 300,000 people, have now spread over 42,000 hectares and in Spain, with a record blaze covering 80,000 hectares. Officials have warned that they might not be extinguished until November.
The EU’s Civil Protection Mechanism is coordinating a European response, which so far has mobilised seven planes and four helicopters – from Czechia, Croatia, Germany, Portugal, Slovakia, Sweden, and Turkey – to France, and six planes to Spain – from Greece, Italy and Turkey. Portugal has deployed 134 personnel and 41 vehicles to Spain.
The EU also has its own fleet of 22 planes and five helicopters at its disposal. But one Commmission official said that the intensity and extent of the blaze was “ten times over the capacity” of the personnel and equipment available to tackle it. The incident therefore raises questions about preparedness and forestry management.
