GLOBAL IMPACTS OF WILDFIRES

Damages, Losses, Costs and Effects

Over the last decades, we have seen a trend of summers continuously getting hotter and drier while the wildfire seasons have gotten longer. People keep wanting to live in wildland urban interfaces exposing themselves to the threats of fires. At the same time, our attitudes and actions toward wildfires are still only focused on defense instead of prevention. The early forest fire detection system FireWatch is a useful tool for sustainable wildfire and forest fire management.

Australia's "Black Saturday" will always be remembered. Thanks to our partner FireWatch Australia, this video highlights the consequences of catastrophic wildfires and the benefits of our technology.

The figures are devastating: From 1984 until 2009, 48 million hectares of land burnt in the United States of America. Canada suffered a loss of 10 million hectares from 1997 until 2006. Australia’s 'Black Saturday' was the country’s most horrific wildfire disaster in history: 173 fatalities, more than 1.800 homes destroyed and 450.000 ha burnt. In 2017 alone, 9.133 wildfires ravaged through the US state of California resulting in 46 fatalities, 10.200 destroyed structures and 559.035 ha of burnt land. Yet even Europe has its share of similarly destructive events: in 2017, Portugal had to deal with 3.639 forest fires that took 105 lives and 418.000 ha of land, which equals to 10% of the country’s forest (Sources: WWF; The Irish Times).

Commercial Devastation

On average wildfires 'burn' an approximate $3.400 -$17.400 US per hectare. Firefighting costs range between $500 - $5000 US per hectare. Damages are estimated at $2000 - $10.000 US depending on the type of forest and its value. After a fire, clean-up operations are estimated at $400 US per hectare, while reforestation efforts may cost between $500 - $2000 US per hectare (Source: Hannover Rück). As an example, in California the costs of wildfire damages and destruction for 2017 alone were estimated at $15 billion US.

In principle, naturally-occurring wildfires play an integral role in our eco system, some plants even need them to reproduce. Humans have long used fire for land management and land conversion. Unfortunately, today we are facing greater threats than humans did hundreds of years ago: globally, the frequency and intensity of wildfires is consistently increasing resulting in catastrophic ramifications for mankind and nature. Important habitat for animals and plants are lost while 15-20% of all greenhouse gas emissions are attributed to wildfires. What’s worse is that four out of five forest fires are started by humans, whether intentionally or unintentionally.