{"id":3173,"date":"2025-07-23T14:47:58","date_gmt":"2025-07-23T14:47:58","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/scienceblog.com\/horizon\/?p=3173"},"modified":"2025-07-23T14:47:58","modified_gmt":"2025-07-23T14:47:58","slug":"fighting-fire-with-innovation-a-pan-european-push-to-tackle-extreme-wildfires","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/scienceblog.com\/horizon\/3173\/fighting-fire-with-innovation-a-pan-european-push-to-tackle-extreme-wildfires\/","title":{"rendered":"Fighting fire with innovation: a pan-European push to tackle extreme wildfires"},"content":{"rendered":"

EU-funded researchers, firefighters and communities are pioneering innovative, collaborative approaches to build landscapes able to withstand increasingly extreme wildfires.<\/p>\n

By<\/em> Maria Vlastara<\/p>\n

Asier Larra\u00f1aga Ochoa de Eguileor, a wildfire analyst at the Catalan Fire and Rescue Service, experienced the Solson\u00e8s wildfire in Spain in 1998 and still remembers it as a revelation.<\/p>\n

\u201cI had basic fire theory training, but what I saw on the ground didn\u2019t match any of it. Fires were jumping over valleys. Firebreaks were useless. That\u2019s when I realised we were facing a different kind of threat.\u201d<\/p>\n

Subsequent wildfire records confirmed his observations. From Greece to Chile, wildfires are burning faster, more often, and more unpredictably than ever before.<\/p>\n

According to the European Commission\u2019s knowledge service, the Joint Research Centre, more than 60 000 forest fires burn on average half a million hectares in the EU every year, causing human casualties and economic losses estimated at around \u20ac2 billion.<\/p>\n

The scale and unpredictability of these fires have exposed the limits of traditional firefighting methods. That is where an EU-funded initiative named FIRE-RES comes in with its cross-sectoral approach to worsening wildfires.<\/p>\n

A new term \u2013 \u201cextreme wildfire events\u201d \u2013 denotes blazes that defy suppression efforts, create their own weather, and spread with frightening speed. Meeting this challenge requires not just new technology, but a complete reimagining of how we prepare for and respond to fire.<\/p>\n

A new approach: reshaping landscapes<\/strong><\/p>\n

Coordinated by the Forest Science and Technology Centre of Catalonia, the FIRE-RES collaboration has received \u20ac20 million to build fire-resilient landscapes across Europe and beyond until the end of 2025. It brings together researchers from Spain and Greece, plus eight other EU countries, Chile and Norway.<\/p>\n

Dr Antoni Trasobares, the director of the Forest Science and Technology Centre of Catalonia, with a PhD in forest science and economics, coordinates the researchers\u2019 work.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe need to work with what we can control. We can\u2019t change the wind or the heatwaves, but we can reshape our landscapes to reduce the chance that these fires spiral out of control,\u201d said Trasobares, who has more than two decades of experience in forest management and international research coordination.<\/p>\n

FIRE-RES operates 11 Living Labs, or open-air testing grounds, in as many countries, including two joint labs in Germany\/the Netherlands and Norway\/Sweden. Firefighters, researchers, farmers and local communities are trialling firefighting innovations, from drone-based early warnings and fuel mapping tools to prescribed burns and fire-resistant building materials.<\/p>\n

Recognising that no single solution fits all, the project partners tailor their innovations to the unique needs of each region. That might mean protecting urban-wildland borders, using advanced weather data from drones or satellites that monitor vegetation health and fire spreads in real time, or conducting controlled burns.<\/p>\n

Another approach combines trees and grazing animals, reducing the overcrowding of trees while encouraging sheep, goats and cattle to feed on grass, shrubs, and underbrush that can act as fuel for wildfire.<\/p>\n

Innovation and tradition on the fire line<\/strong><\/p>\n

In Catalonia, firefighter technicians like Laia Estivill Gonzalez from the specialised wildfire GRAF team are already using FIRE-RES data tools to forecast fire behaviour and train commanders.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe\u2019re exchanging knowledge with firefighters from the Netherlands and Chile. This shared learning helps us \u2013 and them \u2013 respond faster and smarter,\u201d she said.<\/p>\n

\u201cFIRE-RES brings science and local knowledge together, especially in rural areas where people have long coexisted with fire, but now feel overwhelmed.\u201d<\/p>\n

Elsewhere, communities in Sardinia and Aquitaine are reviving traditional practices like goat grazing and controlled burns to reduce potential fuel for the flames. In Galicia, locals learn fire safety through the Fire-Safe Villages initiative that combines community engagement, land management and innovative training.<\/p>\n

These steps lower fire risk and reconnect people with their landscapes, creating jobs and restoring balance.<\/p>\n

One particularly creative idea has taken root in the vineyards \u2013 the FireWine label. Firefighters partner with wineries to restore abandoned agricultural land, reducing fire risk and producing marketable, resilient products.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe need economic drivers that align with fire prevention,\u201d said Trasobares. \u201cThis protects territory and livelihoods at the same time.\u201d<\/p>\n

Rethinking fire science<\/strong><\/p>\n

Marc Castellnou, a wildland fire strategy analyst in Catalonia, warned that today\u2019s fires defy long-held assumptions.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe used to believe wind- and plume-driven fires were distinct phenomena,\u201d he said, referring to two different fire types, one spread mainly by wind, the other by the fire\u2019s own intense heat. \u201cBut in 2012, during the La Jonquera fire [in Catalonia], we saw both behaviours simultaneously. That changed everything.\u201d<\/p>\n

His colleague Larra\u00f1aga has since analysed fires across Spain, Portugal and, most recently, Greece. Reconstructing the spread of the 2023 Alexandroupolis fire \u2013 Europe\u2019s largest ever wildfire that devoured 94\u00a0000 hectares \u2013 was a sobering experience.<\/p>\n

\u201cThese are sub-humid Mediterranean forests. We never thought they could sustain fires burning at 5 km\/h for over 12 hours. But they did,\u201d he said. \u201cAnd similar landscapes across Europe could go the same way under the right conditions.\u201d<\/p>\n

He warned that focusing solely on suppression reflects a misunderstanding of the problem.<\/p>\n

\u201cTechnology is important, but landscapes and land use history determine fire behaviour. If we don\u2019t integrate wildfire risk into agriculture, forestry and urban planning, we\u2019re heading toward a dead-end.\u201d<\/p>\n

The new EU approach seeks to bridge that gap between science, policy and everyday practice. Its Integrated Fire Management approach takes into account the social, economic, cultural and ecological dimensions of fire.<\/p>\n

\u201cFire is part of nature,\u201d said Trasobares. \u201cWe need to stop seeing it only as an enemy and start managing it intelligently, like indigenous communities have done for centuries.\u201d<\/p>\n

The FIRE-RES team has presented their work to the European Commission and European Parliament, with a clear message: resilient landscapes will need to be diverse, managed and shaped by communities.<\/p>\n

The cross-border initiative also shows the added value of transnational collaboration.<\/p>\n

\u201cWildfire is not just a national issue,\u201d says Estivill. \u201cBy pooling our knowledge, we\u2019re building a new European culture of fire safety, one that\u2019s proactive and not reactive.\u201d<\/p>\n

Listening to people on the ground<\/strong><\/p>\n

Trasobares pointed out that wildfire risk is not just an environmental issue.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt\u2019s tied to agricultural subsidies, rural depopulation, forest ownership, even education. Our goal is to bring all these sectors into the same room.\u201d<\/p>\n

The research team also listens to people on the ground \u2013 firefighters, landowners and municipal leaders.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe\u2019re not just sharing innovations \u2013 we\u2019re shaping them together. That builds trust and lasting change,\u201d said Estivill.<\/p>\n

With the project set to end in December 2025, the team is already planning the next phase: transitioning to a permanent knowledge and action hub.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe science is solid, the tools work, and the communities are on board,\u201d said Trasobares. \u201cNow we need the political will \u2013 and the funding \u2013 to scale it up.\u201d<\/p>\n

With science, innovation and community at the heart of the solution, Europe is taking bold steps to outpace the wildfire threat.<\/p>\n

Research in this article was funded by the EU\u2019s Horizon Programme. The views of the interviewees don\u2019t necessarily reflect those of the European Commission. <\/em><\/p>\n

\u200bThis article was originally published\u202fin\u00a0Horizon<\/a>\u00a0the EU Research and Innovation Magazine.<\/em><\/p>\n

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