Commission: New wildfires cannot be extinguished by more aircraft alone

The European Commission has issued a stark warning: massive wildfires, such as those currently raging in Spain and France, are evolving into phenomena that overwhelm existing firefighting capacities, even with the aid of the European civil protection mechanism. The scale and intensity of these fires necessitate a fundamental shift in strategy.

To combat this escalating threat, the Commission is calling on member states to reorient their approach. The emphasis must move beyond reactive extinguishing efforts towards proactive prevention and robust forest management. Reducing flammable vegetation and implementing superior management of forest ecosystems are identified as the sole viable long-term solutions to fires exacerbated by climate change.

Without these crucial interventions, the Commission cautions, even a hundredfold increase in firefighting resources would still leave many fires uncontrollable. This highlights the inadequacy of solely relying on aerial and ground suppression tactics when faced with the current generation of megafires.

The European Civil Protection Mechanism has been activated to support Spain, where over 80,000 hectares have already burned. International assistance includes firefighting aircraft from Turkey, Italy, and Greece, along with ground crews from Portugal. Record-breaking heatwaves have dried forest biomass to unprecedented levels, creating ideal conditions for rapid fire spread. In one instance in Almería, a fire front advanced at approximately six kilometers per hour, far outpacing the ability of ground crews to contain it.