Drought: Fire brigade responded to over 16,000 wildfires in first 4 months of the year

The drought in the Netherlands is causing a lot of extra work for the fire brigade. In April alone, firefighters responded to an average of seven wildfires per day. Between January and April, there were over 16,000 wildfires, roadside fires, and other outdoor fires, about 2,500 more than is typical for the first four months of a year, AD reports based on figures from the Netherlands Institute for Public Safety (NIPV).

In April alone, there were 211 fires, an average of seven reports per day. May saw another 160 reports.

“The question is not whether we will ever have to decide not to extinguish a fire somewhere, but when that will happen,” Guido van der Werf, a professor of wildfires at Wageningen University, told the newspaper. “We have to accept that sometimes we will have to let a fire burn out in a controlled manner.”

So far, 2025 is one of the driest years since the meteorological institute KNMI started keeping track in 1906. This past spring was the third-driest on record. The drought, combined with the warming climate, means that nature is more susceptible to fire.

The largest of this year’s wildfires was in Ede at the start of April. Some 500 firefighters from across the country responded to combat a forest fire started by a practice grenade from the Ministry of Defense.

“The large forest fires this spring show how urgent the need is for more firefighting power,” Anton Slofstra of the Netherlands Fire Department told AD. Instead, the now caretaker Schoof I Cabinet was planning budget cuts, giving the security regions 27 million euros less. If multiple large fires rage at once, choices will have to be made, Slofstra said. “It may be that less capacity is allocated to a certain wildfire because another wildfire entails higher risks. Those are difficult choices.”