This summer’s wildfire epidemic is one of the worst in decades – so why are deaths so low?
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After the 2018 Mati fire, in which residents were trapped in narrow coastal lanes with no marked escape routes, Greece overhauled its evacuation protocols and built new, easy-to-access roads out of its most vulnerable villages and towns.
Portugal took similar steps after its disastrous 2017 fire season, establishing a dedicated wildfire agency tasked solely with preparing for and responding to blazes; new legislation now requires “vegetation-clearance zones,” obliging landowners to clear undergrowth and trees within a 50-metre radius of their properties.
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Mobile telephone alert systems have also boomed. All EU countries are now required by law to have the ability to send emergency alerts directly to mobile phones.
Using cell towers and the European satellite system, Galileo, the technology uses geolocation, meaning people in a specific, high-risk area can be pinged with an alert in the event of a wildfire or any other critical event. This includes foreign tourists and other outsiders.
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It’s predicted that by the end of the century, Europe will see 39 per cent more land burned every year than it currently does, according to a recent study by the Potsdam Institute for Climate Impact Research.
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A major study tracking the global impact of the 2023 Canadian wildfires found that smoke from the fires raised PM2.5 levels in Europe to hazardous levels, and estimated that as many as 22,400 premature deaths were caused by long-range exposure to the particulates.
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