Dutch firefighters deploy to Spain to help fight wildfires, receive hands-on training
Forty Dutch firefighters are training in Spain on advanced wildfire tactics used by Catalan experts. A second group of 20 departs Wednesday to join operations amid active wildfires, AD reports. Wildfires across Spain have killed at least 13 people so far this month, BBC reports.
Edwin Kok from Borne, national coordinator for wildfire management at Brandweer Nederland, said the teams will both assist Spanish crews and receive intensive, hands-on training in Spanish wildfire strategies.
The mission is part of the European prepositioning program, which stations Dutch teams in Spain to build experience and readiness for major wildfires.
“It is coincidental that we are going to an area where wildfires have been burning for some time,” Kok said. “The agreement to return to Spain was made much earlier.”
Catalonia is an international leader in wildfire management. Its specialized GRAF teams constantly analyze fire behavior, terrain, wind and weather. “There is a lot for us to gain there,” Kok said.
The Spanish teams decide not only how to fight wildfires but especially where to place personnel and equipment for the greatest effect.
“Sometimes that also means accepting that part of a natural area is lost to prevent a greater disaster,” Kok said. “It is often not about controlled burning, but about making very difficult choices — and sometimes, as firefighters, simply being unable to do anything against the fire for a while.”
The Netherlands has worked closely with Catalan firefighters for six years. The Spanish method emphasizes predicting how a wildfire will develop and behave.
“Through experience and study, if you know what a fire does, you can also make difficult decisions as a leader,” Kok said. “Do you let a street with 10 threatened houses go and focus on a neighborhood with 200 homes? These are choices that our foreign colleagues face more often.”
Kok said this mindset is becoming more important in the Netherlands after recent major wildfires.
“Wildfires such as those in Ede and at the Artillerie Schietkamp near ’t Harde have shown how quickly available capacity can come under pressure,” he said. “If several large fires break out at the same time, fire service leaders must make difficult choices about where to deploy people and equipment.”
Spanish conditions differ from the Netherlands, with different vegetation and much larger natural areas. Many Dutch nature areas include campings, nursing homes and gas distribution stations.
Prevention is critical, Kok stressed.
“Large fires are prevented by taking measures before the fire starts,” he said. “So make sure there is no tall grass against the house, no branches from trees on the roof, and take into account flammable vegetation such as conifer hedges near buildings.”
