When wildfires began raging across France and Spain last month, the European Union sent aircraft and firefighters from nine other countries. The Pacific Northwest, where fires have forced tens of thousands to evacuate, has landed help from Australia and New Zealand.
Wildland firefighters have increasingly shared resources across borders, sending personnel and equipment to help in severe fire seasons. The trend is driven partly by climate change worsening wildfires, experts say. But now, wildfire seasons are becoming so bad they are stressing governments’ ability to share resources when they’re needed most.
“There’s more international cooperation happening, but it’s a double-edged sword because there’s more competition,” said Cordy Tymstra, a wildfire scientist and consultant in Canada. Just in the last month, out-of-control fires have torn through multiple countries and regions that typically send help to each other, he said. “There’s only so many resources, and the level of resourcing hasn’t risen commensurate with the need.”
Tymstra and other experts say increased reliance on international sharing over the last couple of decades helped close the gap as fire seasons intensified. But increasingly, it’s also revealing that firefighting capacity has failed to keep pace with climate change.
