After four years of dedication to assessing, preventing, and mitigating wildfires, the FirEUrisk project is saying farewell. However, its legacy must serve as a foundation for a better, more resilient world—because things are not going to get any easier.

“It’s necessary for us in Europe to look at what’s happening in Australia and in the US, such as Los Angeles, because that is more or less a precursor of what could happen in our countries,” says Dr. Sébastien Lahaye, Senior Fire Officer and European Project Coordinator at Safe Cluster. He is also the Coordinator of Fire Risk Reduction at FirEUrisk and has been very closely following what’s happening overseas to understand what could happen here.

“Despite having this 1.5º C above the temperature [of pre-industrial times] in 2024, that was not the worst year in terms of wildfire” he explains. However, wildfires are a multifactor issue. “2023 was a good illustration because we had the largest fire ever recorded in Europe.” Wildfires in Portugal 2017 and in Greece in 2018 were no exception—thousands of hectares burned, and many lives were lost to the flames.

That’s why Dr. Lahaye and his team study extreme fires to predict future trends and develop strategies to adapt to what’s coming. “Australia is a very good example of what has been done after several extreme fires, especially the one on Black Saturday, in 2009. They lost more than 170 people in Melbourne; the fire was too extreme to fight,” Dr. Lahaye remembers. But they learned from that experience, and in 2019-20, when they faced another round of devastating fires, although much of the land burned, very few people were killed.

The tools used in these scenarios are being adapted now to the European context by scientific teams, such as the FirEUrisk partners. And it is not just the tools; there is also a need to ensure responders receive the highest level of preparation. FirEUrisk has produced a “Handbook with guidelines for firefighters” to help with this task. “The idea behind that was that countries which have already faced these fires for several years can share their best practices,” he says, “and perhaps highlight what hasn’t worked, so regions that are new to this risk can benefit from their experience.”

Going back to the situation in LA, Dr. Lahaye says that it can be a really good example because it is a place that is now “facing fires all year long,” and preparation for this is key. “A fire can still burn hundreds of houses and kill people. Society doesn’t just prepare for that in a couple of years. It takes time to change the paradigm,” he says.

If these situations happen in areas prone to fires, it is necessary to consider what would happen in other regions that are neither used to nor prepared for such wildfires, as was done in the FirEUrisk project. “In the Mediterranean, firefighters are more or less prepared, while in other regions of Europe, they are not equipped with the proper means,” he explains.

That’s why the hope of this researcher, and many other scientists, is to make a meaningful impact. One of the key outcomes of this project has been the disposition of large scientific teams to work together, but moreover “the preparation of the population through demonstration areas and pilot sites, engaging them to understand the risks and to be better prepared,” Dr. Lahaye concludes. By showing communities the tools developed, the project aimed to establish best practices that will benefit local populations. That is the real legacy of the project.