Forest fires: how is the 2024 season going in France?

of the pine forest fires happened this weekend in Occitanie, especially close Frontignan (Hérault)where more than 350 hectares burned. This is one of the biggest fires this year in France, after all the Vidauban fire (Var) in June, which destroyed 600 hectares.

This weekend, the fire was ignited by winds blowing at 80 km/h. Near Béziers, 60 hectares of pine forest were also destroyed Nissan-les-Ensérunes.

The European network EFFIS (for the European Forest Fire Information System) collects information about fires that occur in European countries, in charge of national emergency services, and satellite observation through the Copernicus program.

Below the average in France

According to EFFIS, around 11,500 hectares have burned in France since 1^Yes January 2024. The program lists fires larger than 30 hectares, and specifies that some may be part of voluntary fire programs.
This 11,500 hectares from mid-August puts the 2024 season slightly below the average of 12,000 hectares for the period 2006-2023:

On the weekly fire curve in France, we can see that this accumulation of surface area is inherited from fires that occurred earlier in the year, especially in February.

The summer has been milder so far, even if the fires at the weekend served as a reminder of how dangerous it was. According to the Minister of the Interior Gérald Darmanin who is retiring4,000 hectares have burned since the beginning of summer, compared to 12,000 last year at the same time.

The fire season usually takes a break in France from mid-September to February.

Fewer fires in Europe, but Greece in danger

There are also fewer fires among our neighbors, according to EFFIS data.

On August 18, across all European countries, 192,000 hectares have burned since August 1.^Yes January 2024. This is well below the average for the period 2006-2023, which is around 245,000 hectares:

So far, the worst fires have broken out in Greece, where the Acropolis is directly threatened by the effects of global warming.

A real fire is also raging on the island of Madeira in Portugal, where 5,000 hectares of vegetation burned in five days.