By early August 2026, the year was already the worst on record for area burned in several European countries, and the EU’s answer was to count firefighters, aircraft and helicopters while the heat kept rising. A Euronews report on 21 August laid out the numbers behind the continent’s fire response, and they read like a ledger of uneven state capacity: 372,400 professional firefighters in the EU in 2025, equal to 0.18% of total employment, with Germany alone accounting for 57,700.
The Numbers Behind the Fire Line
Eurostat says firefighters “prevent, fight and extinguish fires and assist in other emergencies, protect life and property and conduct rescue efforts.” That definition includes forest firefighters, but not volunteers. So the official count already draws a line between paid state capacity and the unpaid labour that often fills the gaps when the system runs hot. France had 47,700 professional firefighters in 2025, Italy 43,500, Poland 40,000 and Spain 38,500. Together, Germany, France, Italy and Spain had around 187,400 professional firefighters, or 50.3% of the EU total.
The distribution is anything but even. Romania and Greece each had more than 20,000 professional firefighters, while Portugal and Czechia each had more than 16,000. Cyprus and Estonia had fewer than 2,000 each, though Eurostat data did not cover five EU countries. Greece and Croatia had the highest shares of firefighters in total employment, at 0.47% and 0.43% respectively. Portugal followed at 0.33%, while the EU average stood at 0.18%. Italy was at 0.18%, Spain at 0.17%, France at 0.16% and Germany at 0.14%.
The pattern is familiar. Richer states and larger economies hold the biggest pools of professional capacity, while smaller and poorer ones are left with thinner margins when the fires come. The EU likes to speak in the language of coordination, but the first fact is still national inequality.
Brussels Steps In After the Damage
When severe wildfire seasons overwhelm domestic resources, countries can request personnel and equipment from elsewhere in Europe. EU Commissioner for Preparedness and Crisis Management Hadja Lahbib said in a statement on 17 August, “No country should face wildfires alone. Through our civil protection mechanism, Europe is moving aircraft, helicopters and firefighters quickly to where they are needed most.”
The European Commission says the EU Civil Protection Mechanism improves coordination in responding to wildfires, and that countries can rapidly access a wider pool of firefighters, aircraft and other emergency capacities when national resources come under pressure. The 2026 rescEU fleet and the European civil protection pool include 22 firefighting aeroplanes and 5 helicopters. That is the continental safety net, such as it is: a central mechanism built to move assets after local systems are stretched to breaking point.
The Commission also says fire risk is expected to increase further because of climate change, and that wildfire risk has expanded beyond the Mediterranean region to countries such as Czechia, Germany and Sweden. The geography of the crisis keeps widening. The institutional response keeps arriving in fragments.
A Continent That Keeps Heating Up
As of the 31st week of the year, 2026 ranked as the fourth-worst year in the EU for cumulative area burnt by wildfires since 2012, according to Our World in Data. By early August, 489,826 hectares had burnt across the EU, 13% higher than the average for the same period during the 14 years from 2012 to 2025. Those are not abstract figures. They are homes, forests, fields and livelihoods turned to ash while governments tally budgets and capacities.
EU countries spent €43.8 billion on fire-protection services in 2024, equal to 0.5% of total general government expenditure. Germany spent the most at €13.7 billion, followed by France at €7.9 billion. Greece spent slightly over €1 billion, equal to 0.9% of Greek government expenditure and the highest share in the EU. The spending numbers show the scale of the apparatus, but not its limits. Money moves through ministries. Fire moves faster.
Copernicus said June 2026 was the hottest June on record in Western Europe and the second warmest globally. The last three years were the three warmest on record globally: 2024, 2023 and 2025. The climate keeps delivering the same message. States keep responding with the same old hierarchy: national budgets, EU coordination, emergency fleets, and a lot of talk about preparedness after the flames have already spread.