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HEATWAVE

In numbers: The scale of Sweden’s wildfires and the efforts to contain them

Wildfires are burning in dozens of locations across Sweden, with hundreds of people evacuated from their homes as a result and thousands involved in the firefighting effort. Here's a look at the wildfire situation in numbers.

Published: 20 July 2018 17:14 CEST
In numbers: The scale of Sweden's wildfires and the efforts to contain them
A helicopter drops water on one of the fires. Photo: Mats Andersson / TT

61

That was the number of fires burning across the country on Friday afternoon, according to SOS Alarm. 

The number has been in fluctuation, with dozens of blazes being tackled simultaneously from north to south and west to east.

4

On Friday, the Civil Contingencies Agency (MSB) warned that four of the fires were too big to be extinguished. The serious blazes in question are all located in central Sweden: Fågelsjö/Lillåsen in Jämtland, Kårböle in Gävleborg, Trängslet in Dalarna and Brattsjö in Västernorrland.

300-500

According to the MSB, the number of people who have been evacuated is between 300 and 500. The evacuations have affected small towns and villages in Gävleborg, Jämtland, Dalarna and Västerbotten.

READ MORE: Here's where evacuations are taking place due to wildfires

1,000

The approximate number of firefighters involved in battling the flames. That includes around 300 in Ljusdal, 250 in Jämtland, and 100 in Dalarna, according to the TT newswire. 

They are being assisted by the Armed Forces and thousands of civilians, who have been volunteering their time and donating supplies. Find out how volunteers have been helping here.

20,000

MSB says the wildfires cover a total area of over 20,000 hectares. This is already a bigger area than that affected by the 2014 forest fire in Västmanland, which at the time was the country's largest forest fire in several decades.

600 million 

The Swedish Forestry Agency has estimated that 600 million kronor worth of damage has been caused to woodland by the fires, with around 2 million square metres of forest destroyed.

12,148

This is the number of calls made to the emergency number 112 on Thursday, according to SOS Alarm. The number of calls has been between around 9,000 and 12,000 each day for the past week, reaching a peak of over 13,000 on Saturday. 

12

The number of Important Messages to the Public (VMAs) which were active as of Friday afternoon. These included evacuation notices as well as calls to members of the public in smoke-affected areas to stay inside and keep doors and windows closed. On Thursday, the number of active VMAs reached 13, which authorities said was a record for Sweden.

To read the latest on the wildfire situation, including evacuations and how to volunteer to help, click here for all The Local's coverage.

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WILDFIRES

France gets help from EU neighbours as wildfires rage

Firefighting teams and equipment from six EU nations started to arrive in France on Thursday to help battle a spate of wildfires, including a fierce blaze in the parched southwest that has forced thousands to evacuate.

Published: 12 August 2022 08:48 CEST
France gets help from EU neighbours as wildfires rage

Most of the country is sweltering under a summer heatwave compounded by a record drought – conditions most experts say will occur more often as a result of rapid climate change.

“We must continue, more than ever, our fight against climate disruption and … adapt to this climate disruption,” Prime Minister Elisabeth Borne said after arriving at a fire command post in the village of Hostens, south of Bordeaux.

The European Commission said four firefighting planes would be sent to France from Greece and Sweden, as well as teams from Austria, Germany, Poland and Romania.

“Our partners are coming to France’s aid against the fires. Thank you to them. European solidarity is at work!” President Emmanuel Macron tweeted.

“Across the country over 10,000 firefighters and security forces are mobilised against the flames… These soldiers of fire are our heroes,” he said.

In total, 361 foreign firefighters were  dispatched to assist their 1,100 French colleagues deployed in the worst-hit part of the French southwest.

A first contingent of 65 German firefighters, followed by their 24 vehicles, arrived Thursday afternoon and were to go into action at dawn Friday, officials said.

Among eight major fires currently raging, the biggest is the Landiras fire in the southwest Gironde department, whose forests and beaches draw huge tourist crowds each summer.

It had already burned 14,000 hectares (35,000 acres) in July – the driest month seen in France since 1961 – before being contained, but it continued to smoulder in the region’s tinder-dry pine forests and peat-rich soil.

Since flaring up again Tuesday, which officials suspect may have been caused by arson, it has burned 7,400 hectares, destroyed or damaged 17 homes, and forced 10,000 people to quit their homes, said Lieutenant Colonel Arnaud Mendousse of the Gironde fire and rescue service.

Borne said nine firefighting planes are already dumping water on the blaze, with two more to be in service by the weekend.

“Gigantic”
“We battled all night to stop the fire from spreading, notably to defend the village of Belin-Beliet,” Mendousse told journalists in Hostens.

On several houses nearby, people hung out white sheets saying: “Thank you for saving our homes” and other messages of support for the weary fire battalions.

“You’d think we’re in California, it’s gigantic… And they’re used to forest fires here but we’re being overwhelmed on all sides — nobody could have expected this,” Remy Lahlay, a firefighter deployed near Hostens in the Landes de Gascogne natural park, told AFP.

With temperatures in the region hitting nearly 40C on Thursday and forecast to stay high until at least Sunday, “there is a very serious risk of new outbreaks” for the Landiras fire, the prefecture of the Gironde department said.

Acrid smoke has spread across much of the southwestern Atlantic coast and its beaches that draw huge crowds of tourists each summer, with the regional ARS health agency “strongly” urging people to wear protective face masks.

The smoke also forced the closing of the A63 motorway, a major artery toward Spain, between Bordeaux and Bayonne.

The government has urged employers to allow leaves of absence for volunteer firefighters to help fight the fires.

Meanwhile, in Portugal, more than 1,500 firefighters were also battling a fire that has raged for days in the mountainous Serra da Estrela natural park in the centre of the country.

It has already burned 10,000 hectares, according to the European Forest Fire Information System (EFFIS).

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