Forest fires : sparking firesmart policies in the EU

Forest fires constitute a serious and increasing threat throughout Europe, and in particular in Greece, Spain, France, Italy and Portugal. Despite a decreasing trend in the number of fires and areas burned, observed in some countries since the 1980s, larger and more damaging fires (i.e. 'megafires') are challenging the suppression capacities of many wildfire protection programmes across Europe. This trend is the result of unbalanced policies that can be effective in fire suppression in normal weather conditions but are insufficient to prevent extreme events such as megafires.