‘It’s only going to get worse’: wildfires forcing firefighters to make impossible choices

Firefighters tackle the flames of the Vouzela wildfire in Cercosa in Mortagua, Portugal, in early July. Photograph: Paulo Cunha/EPA View image in fullscreen Firefighters tackle the flames of the Vouzela wildfire in Cercosa in Mortagua, Portugal, in early July. Photograph: Paulo Cunha/EPA ‘It’s only going to get worse’: wildfires forcing firefighters to make impossible choices As the climate crisis fuels more intense blazes, pushing them to new parts of the world, those tackling them are forced to ration resources and decide which to fight César Alcaraz had only just become a firefighter in the late 1990s when he found himself ambushed by a fast-moving blaze. Barely able to breathe and with no more water left in his truck, he and his colleagues fled an inferno ravaging Spain’s Montgó mountain region, wishing their bosses had sent more support. But nearly three decades on, as an officer with Alicante’s provincial firefighters, Alcaraz has more sympathy for the agonising choices that commanders have to make. When wildfires overwhelm an area, his job resembles that of a doctor in an emergency room with too few ventilators. It is a dilemma growing more onerous as wildfires worsen across the Mediterranean – and is beginning to confront countries as cold as the UK, where wildfires are invading cities, homes and gardens. View image in fullscreen Flames and smoke rise from a wildfire near the municipality of El Pocico in Almería, Spain, earlier in July. Photograph: Pablo Blázquez Domínguez/Getty Images “It’s not just about having more fires to fight, it’s the risk of operational collapse,” said Alcaraz, who sits in the command centre and sees concurrent blazes occurring more often and earlier in the year. “When two or three fires break out simultaneously, we are forced to make immediate triage decisions.” Deadly wildfires have engulfed western Europe this month – the grim consequence of a trio of heatwaves that have turned lush vegetation into dry tinder – while separate blazes suffocate North America with cloying smoke. France, Portugal and Spain have each been torched by a record-breaking number of wildfires for this time of year, leaving an unprecedented area of France in flames and 13 people dead in Spain . The UK began the week with 19 separate wildfires that led experts to warn of a “firewave” more widespread than ever before . View image in fullscreen Fires in northern Ontario in Canada caused poor air quality in Toronto, which had the worst air quality of any major city in the world on Wednesday. Photograph: Cole Burston/AFP/Getty Images Across the Atlantic, smoke from 100 fires burning northern Ontario made Toronto the most polluted city in the world on Wednesday before it crossed the US border to choke New York. Far-reaching fumes from Canadian wildfires are so strong they caused 82,000 early deaths in 2023, a study found last year, including 33,000 in the US and 22,000 in Europe . On Friday, the EU’s Copernicus agency said summer smoke was caus