More than 300 wildfires in the Netherlands last year, of which …

Last year, the fire brigade in the Netherlands had to respond to at least 314 wild fires. There were also seventy fires on military sites and 21 field fires, according to the annual wildfire report of the Netherlands Institute for Public Safety (NIPV).

June was the month with the most wildfires, namely 191. According to the NIPV, a possible explanation is the drought in that month. Five wildfires were given a so-called GRIP status last year. This means that the emergency services work together in a coordinated manner. One of those five fires was in Limburg, on June 4 in De Maasduinen near Bergen. The others were in Assen, Purmerend, Musselkanaal and Ter Apel.

Also read: Fire brigade present en masse at large wildfire in Maasduinen National Park: signal fire marshal given

The researchers also linked data from the KNMI to the fire reports. The analysis shows that most fires occurred at temperatures between 20 and 30 degrees. There was one wildfire where the temperature was below 0 degrees.

Corn fields

The fires on fields mainly occurred in June, July and August. These are the months in which the grain fields are dried and harvested. The fires on military grounds took place all year round, but only in the morning and afternoon. “This can be explained by the fact that these are mainly the hours when the defense practices,” the researchers report.

It is the first time that the NIPV has kept track of wildfires. The reports have been collected automatically since last year. The reports are then checked based on reports from the media, the fire brigade, nature managers, defense and social media.