The ever-growing problem of forest fires is manageable, provided that the state is willing to address it by making the appropriate political decisions. A key prerequisite is to rely on scientific knowledge and data, in the collection of which huge gaps still exist today. Three experts –Gabriel Xanthopoulos, Research Director at the Institute of Mediterranean Forest Ecosystems; Elias Tziritis, WWF’s Forest Fire Actions Coordinator; and Zisoula Dasiou, Fire Colonel, Hellenic Fire Service, and forest engineer– point out the problems and make suggestions.
“Fire, strange as it may seem, is an essential element for the natural functioning of most forest ecosystems. In fact, vegetation species have developed clear survival strategies that ensure their continuity when fires occur at their natural frequency”, says Dr. Gabriel Xanthopoulos, Research Director at the Hellenic Agricultural Organization “DIMITRA” and the Institute of Mediterranean Forest Ecosystems. Of course, while forests rely on fire for regeneration, “over the past 40 years, the number of wildfires has more than tripled due to anthropogenic activities, such as burning land to create pastures or develop vacation home areas. At the same time, the destructiveness of fires has intensified, mainly due to the increase in available biomass, resulting into rural abandonment as well as the development of settlements which are adjacent to forests”, Xanthopoulos adds.
“Despite the supply of modern firefighting equipment, already from the 1970s, when the annual average of burnt areas was 20.379 hectares, our country has failed to tackle the increasing forest fires, which, since the 2000s, have surpassed all previous records. “The transfer of responsibility from the Forestry Service firefighting to the Fire Service in 1998 created significant problems. The separation of forest management and fire prevention from suppression had a negative impact. The lack of good cooperation between the two agencies and their imbalanced support and funding led to the worsening of the fire problem, despite the multiple amounts of credits allocated each year for their suppression”, says Mr. Xanthopoulos.
The transfer of responsibility from the Forestry Service firefighting to the Fire Service in 1998 created significant problems. The separation of forest management and fire prevention from suppression had a negative impact
What is happening today in prevention and suppression?
“At the moment, we do not have a national response plan for forest fires in the country that has measurable goals – for example, if we have 9.000 forest fire incidents, we need to find a way to reduce them. A national plan should unite all the efforts of the involved parties –the Ministry of Civil Protection, the Forestry Service, and the Regions– and bring them under one umbrella, so that there can be better coordination, and everyone remains focused on the specific goals set by the national plan», says the environmentalist and WWF coordinator for forest fire actions, Elias Tziritis.
The second point highlighted by Mr. Tziritis regarding the prevention and management of fires is the scientific findings, most of which relate to the restructuring of the Forestry Service. “The Goldammer report on forest fires, which was released after the government’s commission in 2018 following the tragedy in Mati, provides a comprehensive analysis of forest fires and makes some proposals. The current government claims that it has implemented 90% of the report's recommendations. However, the truth is that it has only implemented 90% of the parts it wanted and could implement. There are many points in the report that the government has consciously chosen not to implement. This is a political choice. There are also other reports, like the one from the European Civil Protection Agency, which discusses the national plan and identifies gaps in cooperation between agencies, while providing very specific guidelines on what needs to be done”.
Huge data gaps
Another reason for the failure to respond to forest fires is the huge data gaps. “In the country, we do not have updated maps of combustible material. The last forest area inventory was done in 1992. Since then, there has been no other. This means that we do not have a mapped image of what combustible material exists in each area. This is a major operational tool and is the epitome of prevention”, explains Mr. Tziritis, and adds: “The other problem is that we have a static fire risk assessment map (not the dynamic one we generate every day) from 1980. A lot has changed since 1980, yet the funds are still allocated based on this map”.
With the intensity of fires increasing every year, data gaps also put the lives of firefighters at risk. “The 2023 fire season in Greece was the most difficult fire season of the last 15 years. The fire risk prediction maps for the months of July and August were the worst we've ever had”, says the head of Aerial Firefighting Means, Fire Colonel with the Hellenic Fire Service, and forest engineer Zisoula Ntasiou, and adds: “The key to understanding how these extreme fires develop is to collect data on their interaction with the atmosphere, to record the behavior, intensity, and speed with which they moved over time”.
The key to understanding how these extreme fires develop is to collect data on their interaction with the atmosphere, to record the behavior, intensity, and speed with which they moved over time
Moreover, in Greece, there is no evaluation of incidents and no analysis of the causes to prevent future disasters. “This year, Attica was burnt down. In 2009, we had a similar fire in Attica. Both fires had the same topography, the same characteristics, and similar behavior. The 2009 fire was never analyzed. No evaluation of the country's major forest fires has been carried out to produce results, draw lessons, and see how to improve the response mechanism”, says Elias Tziritis. Regarding the fact that we do not know the causes of the fires, Mr. Tziritis states: “Approximately 95% of fires are caused by anthropogenic activity. Either through negligence or intent. However, there is no publicly available data on the causes, properly documented by region, so that we can implement the appropriate prevention measures. According to Fire Service data, in the last twenty years, only 16% of incidents have been investigated. For the remaining 84%, we have no idea where the fires started”.
If we conducted a serious analysis of the causes, we could implement targeted measures to reduce wildfires as Mr. Tziritis explains, “by reducing the number of incidents, the response system would not be overwhelmed. When a system must handle 10,000 incidents each year, even small ones, this means mechanism fatigue and collapse”.
Problematic firefighter training
There are also significant issues with firefighter training for forest fires. At the four-year Fire Academy, a firefighter takes only two courses on forest fires throughout their entire education, while there is a high likelihood that they will never receive further training on forest fires during their career. “Forest fires are studied scientifically all year round, worldwide. New ideas, tools, methods, and suppression procedures are constantly being developed. All these need to be updated and incorporated into firefighter training. Training means mutual understanding.
I understand things I see in the field because I have learned them theoretically. Training brings a shift in culture because the more I learn about forest fires, the more I change my perspective on them. Training is not just for firefighters, but it is also about everyone involved in forest fires. Civil Protection officials have not attended a single seminar on forest fires. These people, in Evros, Soufli, and Alexandroupolis, will be called to collaborate with firefighters, and if they are not trained in the same things, they will not be able to speak the same language. When a firefighter says, ‘we will do this,’ the others must understand what ‘this’ means. Even military personnel need training, since they are also part of the mechanism”, explains Mr. Tziritis.
Civil Protection officials have not attended a single seminar on forest fires. These people will be called to collaborate with firefighters, and if they are not trained in the same things, they will not be able to speak the same language
What comes after the wildfires?
While the focus should be on prevention to avoid dealing with the aftermath, fortunately, forestry services have the knowledge and experience to handle post-fire recovery. Usually, after every destructive fire and the first rains, severe flooding follows due to soil erosion. Therefore, flood prevention and anti-erosion projects must begin immediately after the fire. “The real issue, however, is the understaffing of the Forestry Service, the financial resources, and how prepared we are for reforestation|, explains Elias Tziritis.
“Of the 44 nurseries that existed in Greece in the 1970s, only 24 remain today, and most of them are neglected. For example, a nursery in Patras that once had the capacity for 600,000 plants now produces 60,000–70,000 plants. If we don’t have nurseries, we don’t have plants, which means artificial restoration cannot be done where it is needed”.
One mistake we should not make after wildfires is leaving the burned areas unprotected. “In many cases, the Fire Service believes that it should move vehicles away from burned areas and take them where the forest is dense. This is a misconception because burned areas need to be further protected so that they don’t burn again for the next twenty years. In 2023, out of the 170.000 hectares that burned, 20.000 had already burned again, which means we will not have natural forest regeneration. These hectares were added to the already many thousands of hectares in need of artificial restoration, and this problem keeps accumulating each year”, concludes Elias Tziritis.