The European Union has mobilised additional firefighting support for Belgium and Spain as severe wildfires continue to overwhelm local emergency services.
The deployments, made through the EU Civil Protection Mechanism (UCPM), include aircraft, helicopters, ground crews and satellite mapping to support authorities tackling fires across several regions.
In Belgium, two rescEU firefighting aircraft have been sent from Sweden, while helicopters from the Netherlands, Norway, and Germany are assisting crews battling fires in the Hautes Fagnes.
More than 3,000 hectares have already burned. In Spain, 104 French firefighters and 36 vehicles have been deployed to Aragón, where almost 16,000 hectares have been affected.
The scale of the wildfire response reflects an exceptionally severe 2026 wildfire season. By the end of July, the area burned across Europe was already around 2.5 times the usual level, according to the European Forest Fire Information System (EFFIS).
The EU is consequently relying on cross-border cooperation to reinforce national services when fires exceed the resources available locally.
Hadja Lahbib, Commissioner for Preparedness and Crisis Management, explained: “No country should face wildfires alone.
“Through our civil protection mechanism, Europe is moving aircraft, helicopters and firefighters quickly to where they are needed most. This weekend in Belgium and Spain, European solidarity was on the ground again.”
A coordinated European wildfire response
The UCPM allows countries facing major disasters to request assistance from a wider pool of European emergency resources.
Once a request is made, participating countries can offer aircraft, helicopters, firefighters, vehicles and specialist equipment, with the European Commission coordinating and co-financing deployments.
The system is backed by rescEU, the EU’s strategic reserve of emergency capacity. For the 2026 season, 22 firefighting aircraft and five helicopters have been placed on standby, alongside hundreds of pre-positioned firefighters and specialist teams.
Satellite technology is also becoming an increasingly important part of wildfire response. The EU’s Copernicus Emergency Management Service is producing rapid mapping for fires in Belgium, Spain, Greece, Germany, Montenegro, Serbia, Albania, France, and Italy.
These maps give authorities a faster picture of fire perimeters and affected areas, supporting decisions on evacuation, resource allocation and emergency operations.
Europe’s changing wildfire landscape
Wildfires are no longer confined to Europe’s traditional fire-prone Mediterranean belt.
The European Environment Agency (EEA) reports that fires are increasingly affecting central and northern Europe, with recent droughts and heatwaves contributing to outbreaks in areas that have historically faced lower fire risk.
Climate conditions are an important part of that shift. Europe is warming faster than any other continent, while prolonged periods of heat and reduced rainfall can dry vegetation and create conditions in which fires spread more rapidly.
The European Commission says climate change is expected to increase both the length and severity of wildfire seasons, particularly around the Mediterranean, while expanding the geographical area exposed to fire risk.
The threat is also being shaped by changes in land use. Rural land abandonment, expanding settlements and the growing interface between built-up areas and vegetation can increase exposure to fires.
The EEA estimates that this wildland-urban interface covers 7.4% of land across EEA member and cooperating countries.
From emergency response to resilience
The growing scale of fires is putting greater emphasis on prevention as well as emergency response. European authorities are increasingly combining early warning, risk mapping, forest management and cross-border firefighting capacity to prepare for a longer and more volatile fire season.
The latest deployments demonstrate the value of that approach. As wildfire risk becomes increasingly transnational, the ability to move firefighters, aircraft and intelligence across borders could become as important as the resources held within individual countries.
