Calabria's wildfire season laid bare in new data

Italy has spent the summer fighting wildfires from Sicily and Calabria to the Alps, and with the season not yet over, new figures are beginning to quantify the scale of the destruction, according to The Local Italy. The data, compiled from official European and national sources, shows that the fires have not been confined to the usual southern hotspots, with blazes reported in regions as far north as the Alps, and even in Belgium, Germany and the UK, as France 24 reported this week.

For Calabria, the numbers confirm what residents have lived through for months. The region, with its hot Mediterranean coasts and a dry interior that has seen little rain, has been among the areas most exposed to the flames. The Local's analysis notes that the fires have forced evacuations and caused major damage across Europe, and that a significant share of the blazes in Italy are believed to have been set deliberately, a pattern long familiar to those who watch the southern countryside.

The figures come as Europe asks whether it is prepared for a new normal of wildfire seasons that no longer respect national borders or traditional seasonal calendars. Alexander Held, a senior expert at the European Forest Institute, told France 24 that fires are spreading into unexpected areas, and that citizens have a role to play in prevention and limiting the damage.