Citation

Stoof CR, Kok E, Cardil Forradellas A, van Marle MJE. Ambio 2024; ePub(ePub): ePub.

Copyright

(Copyright © 2024, Royal Swedish Academy of Sciences, Publisher Holtzbrinck Springer Nature Publishing Group)

DOI

10.1007/s13280-023-01960-y

PMID

38315413

Abstract

Landscape fires are usually not associated with temperate Europe, yet not all temperate countries record statistics indicating that actual risks remain unknown. Here we introduce new wildfire statistics for The Netherlands, and summarize significant events and fatalities. The period 2017-2022 saw 611 wildfires and 405 ha burned per year, which Copernicus' European Forest Fire Information System satellite data vastly underestimate. Fires burned more heathland than forest, were small (mean fire size 1.5 ha), were caused by people, and often burned simultaneously, in Spring and in Summer drought. Suppression, restoration and traffic delays cost 3 M€ year(-1). Dozens of significant events illustrate fire has never been away and has major societal impact amidst grave concerns for firefighter safety. Since 1833, 31 fatalities were reported. A legal framework is needed to ensure continuity of recordkeeping, as the core foundation of integrated fire management, to create a baseline for climate change, and to fulfill international reporting requirements.

Language: en

Keywords

Area burned; Emerging fire regions; The Netherlands; Wildfire causes; Wildfire occurrence; Wildfire statistics