Each summer, the EU civil protection community watches the forecasts—hoping for the best yet preparing for the worst. In the summer of 2025, the latter has become reality, pushing our collective response capacity to its limits.
More than 1 million hectares have burned across the EU
According to the European Forest Fire Information System (EFFIS), more than 1 million hectares have burned—the largest area recorded in the EU since 2006. Almost 2,000 fires have been detected since January, nearly double the number during the same period last year.
From south to north, relentless heatwaves have fuelled devastating flames, keeping response teams on constant alert and prompting a record number of EU Civil Protection Mechanism activations. 11 countries requested firefighting assistance a total of 18 times—including Spain, for the first time ever.
Throughout these overlapping emergencies, the EU’s Emergency Response Coordination Centre and its dedicated wildfire support team worked around the clock to mobilise help and coordinate the efforts of EU prepositioned firefighters.
In total, the EU deployed 38 airplanes, 20 helicopters, and more than 760 personnel to Spain, Portugal, Greece, Albania, Cyprus, Montenegro, North Macedonia, Bulgaria, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Israel, and Syria.
Even under extreme pressure, European solidarity has once again prevailed.
See the highlights in pictures
In July, Greece faced an exceptionally challenging wildfire situation, with more than 20 fires burning simultaneously. The country turned to the EU Civil Protection Mechanism to request international firefighting assistance.
Firefighters from Czechia, Moldova, and Bulgaria—prepositioned in Greece through the EU Civil Protection Mechanism—were already on the ground and worked shoulder to shoulder with their Greek colleagues.
They were reinforced by 2 airplanes from rescEU, the EU’s joint firefighting fleet, stationed in Italy, which carried out water drops to support the teams battling the flames on the ground.
In mid-July, the EU mobilised its rescEU firefighting fleet to support Albania in tackling wildfires in Vlora and Dibër counties.
6 rescEU planes from Greece, Italy, and Croatia joined the operations, helping to bring the flames under control.
In response to Bulgaria’s request for assistance, the EU Civil Protection Mechanism quickly mobilised 5 firefighting helicopters from Hungary, Romania, Czechia, Slovakia, and France, along with 2 firefighting airplanes from Sweden.
An expert from the EU Emergency Response Coordination Centre was also deployed to work with the Bulgarian authorities and help coordinate the operation.
Several of the helicopters deployed to Bulgaria—from Czechia, Slovakia, and France—are part of rescEU, the EU’s joint firefighting fleet and a key tool in responding to disasters.
The same is true for the 2 firefighting airplanes provided by Sweden.
After a major wildfire broke out in Cyprus’s Limassol district, national authorities activated the EU Civil Protection Mechanism.
In response, a ground firefighting team from Greece and 22 planes from the EU’s rescEU fleet, stationed in Spain, were mobilised. The airplanes were later demobilised before arrival as the situation improved.
By mid-August, Portugal and Spain had recorded their largest burnt area ever for that time of year—over 500,000 hectares in total, according to EFFIS. That’s nearly twice the size of Luxembourg.
For the first time ever, Spain activated the EU Civil Protection Mechanism for wildfires.
In response, the EU deployed:
- 4 firefighting airplanes
- 4 helicopters
- 6 ground teams
These ground teams assets and teams were from France, Italy, the Netherlands, Slovakia, Czechia, Germany, Finland, Romania, and Greece, with the EU-prepositioned team from Estonia also joining the operations.
This represents the largest wildfire activation of the EU Civil Protection Mechanism to date.
In this photo, a helicopter drops water over the flames while a French firefighter holds the line.
In response to the unprecedented wildfires in Spain in August, the Dutch Civil Protection deployed 2 Chinook firefighting helicopters through the EU Civil Protection Mechanism.
They have been operating primarily in the Castilla and León regions.
In Sardinia, French and EU-prepositioned Italian firefighters battling wildfires together rescued a dog caught in the blaze — a reminder that solidarity means protecting every life in danger.
In response to major wildfires in Montenegro in mid-August, 7 countries provided assistance through the EU Civil Protection Mechanism: Austria, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Czechia, Croatia, Hungary, Italy, and Serbia.
In this photo, a Czech helicopter—part of the EU’s joint firefighting fleet, rescEU—drops water over the flames.
Throughout August and September, Romanian, Czech, and French firefighters—prepositioned in Greece via the EU Civil Protection Mechanism—stood shoulder to shoulder with their Greek colleagues, united and ready to tackle wildfires together.
