At least 314 wildfires in the Netherlands last year, most of them in June

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. This involved a wildfire in Assen on May 4, a fire in Bergen in Limburg on June 4, a fire in Purmerend on June 12, one in Musselkanaal on June 16 and a wildfire in Ter Apel on June 18.

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.

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.

2024 so far very wet

There is currently no drought or wildfire risk. Due to the changeable weather, the top layer of the soil is very wet. According to the official warning on datumbrandrisk.nl, ‘phase 1’ applies and there are no details. It is recommended to always be careful with fire in nature.

In persistently dry weather, drought can increase sharply within a month. Last year March and April were wet. May was on the dry side with only a lot of precipitation regionally. Then arose in the very dry June many wildfires.