Fires in Europe

Today we are going to tell you about the many fires of this summer 2022 in Europe

The year 2022 is breaking records for fires in the European Union. More than 700 000 hectares of forest have already gone up in flames since the beginning of the year, according to data from the European Forest Fire Information System (EFFIS). This is one of the worst figures since the service was created in 2006. 

As of 18 August, exactly 761,547 hectares have been burned since 1 January, according to the latest EFFIS data. This is roughly equivalent to the area of Switzerland and Belgium combined.
Spain is the worst affected country, with more than 283 000 hectares burnt, still ravaged by the flames, according to the European Forest Fire Information System. Romania was next, with more than 150,700 hectares, followed by Portugal, with 86,631 hectares. France is in fourth place in this sad ranking, with 62,102 hectares, ahead of Italy, with 42 835 hectares. The number of fires has also increased in recent years. By mid-August 2022, more than 2,300 forest fires had been recorded across the European Union, far more than the average of 1,349 fires recorded over the period 2006-2021.

To deal with these fires, EU countries have several means at their disposal, both on land and in the air

Let us start with France: its fleet consists of 21 aircraft and 35 helicopters. This is what the Senate information report on the subject indicates, Italy has a fleet of 16 Canadairs, more than France. Madrid, with a larger fleet, has 18 Canadairs - according to the Spanish government website. Greece had 20 Canadairs in 2020, and Croatia 4. But unlike France, the Spanish, Greek and Croatian aircraft are not part of a "civilian" fleet but a military one. The difference is that, outside of forest fire periods, the resources and crews are requested by the Air Force. As a result, they are less available.

For example in france many contry help her

The french president Emmanuel Macron announced on Twitter the help of "Germany, Greece, Poland, and in the coming hours Romania and Austria" to contain and extinguish the fires. 

"European solidarity is at work!" he added*. Four aircraft from the EU fleet have been sent to France from Greece and Sweden, according to the European Commission. Germany announced 64 firefighters and 24 vehicles, Poland 146 firefighters

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