Filenews 11 August 2025
Cypriot society has not yet overcome the shock caused by the huge destruction caused by the fire in mountainous Limassol, from which two of our fellow citizens lost their lives, in their attempt to escape from the fire front.
More than 120 square kilometers of vegetation were burned, houses, property, crops were completely destroyed.
Investigations into errors and omissions in the prevention or treatment of the fire are ongoing. And he does not say that the political confrontation should cease either.
However, large, uncontrollable and destructive fires are not a Cypriot phenomenon. And unfortunately, it is not a temporary phenomenon, it is not a rare tragedy. They are becoming more and more common, in almost all European countries.
Portugal's poor performance
In a report last Friday, Euronews points out that human behaviour is responsible for the vast majority of fires in Europe, but it is climate change that makes them more frequent and more intense.
Warmer and drier conditions, combined with more frequent droughts and heatwaves, create extremely flammable landscapes, especially in southern and central Europe, according to the European Environment Agency.
As recorded by the Euronews report, Portugal recorded the largest burned area in the EU in 2024, with almost 450 km2 of land destroyed.
The fires broke out in the first stage on the island of Madeira and later, around mid-September 2024, on the mainland.
After Portugal, Bulgaria and Spain were the countries where the flames consumed the most area, with 310.9 km2 and 186.5 km2 burned, respectively.
Data published by Euronews shows that Cyprus was in 9th place in the area burned by fires in 2024, with 17 square kilometers. But this year alone, another 120 square kilometers were burned. For Greece, it is noted that the burned areas in 2024 were 140 square kilometers.
This is not the first time that fires have hit Portugal hardest.
In 2017, the country experienced an extremely devastating firefighting season. A total of 117 people died and 902.6 km² was burned.
Although this year's season is not yet over, from the beginning of the year to July 15 the area burned is already three times as much as the same period last year, according to Portugal's National Institute for Nature and Forest Protection.
Between 2000 and 2024, fires burned an average of 3,770 square kilometres of EU land each year.
This corresponds to an annual average of 10% of forests and 21% of grasslands burned in the EU.
It is estimated that fires cost the EU €2.5 billion every year, due to the destruction or serious damage to buildings and infrastructure, such as electricity transmission lines, water networks and transport routes. They can also deter tourists, hurting local economies that depend on tourism.
What causes fires?
Euronews writes that the European Environment Agency estimates that human behaviour and activities, such as negligence and arson, are directly or indirectly responsible for 95% of fires in Europe.
Man-made fires often start near the borders between built-up areas and semi-natural or wild areas, such as roads or cities adjacent to forests.
However, human contribution alone is not directly related to the spread and intensity of a fire.
Only 1.2% of European fires result in 65% of the total area being burned. The likelihood of a fire becoming uncontrolled depends on the type of vegetation, the fuel in the soil, topography and weather conditions (high temperature, low relative humidity and fast wind).
As temperatures rise due to climate change, so does the risk of fires in Europe becoming more frequent, intense and long-lasting.
 |
| Fire danger forecast 5-12 August 2025 |
A 2025 study concluded that firefighters directly involved in the 2017 extreme fire season in Portugal reveal limited understanding of the behaviour of extreme fires and pay little attention to prevention measures.
