In the summer of 2018, a large number of

wildfire A wildfire, forest fire, bushfire, wildland fire or rural fire is an unplanned, uncontrolled and unpredictable fire in an area of combustible vegetation. Depending on the type of vegetation present, a wildfire may be more specifically identi ...

s (primarily forest fires) occurred throughout much of Sweden. According to the

Swedish Civil Contingencies Agency The Swedish Civil Contingencies Agency ( sv, Myndigheten för samhällsskydd och beredskap, ) is a Swedish administrative authority, organised under the Ministry of Justice. The agency is responsible for issues concerning civil protection, public ...

, they are the most serious in the country in modern history. The summer was unusually warm and dry, significantly raising the risk of fire. Firefighters from multiple countries were involved in fighting the fires. Many people were evacuated from their homes, but there were no fatalities.

Heatwave and cause of fire

Sweden experienced an unusually long heatwave and had only of rain from the beginning of May to late July. May 2018 was the warmest May and July 2018 was the warmest July ever recorded in Sweden. As of mid-July, temperatures in

Scandinavia Scandinavia; Sámi languages: /. ( ) is a subregion in Northern Europe, with strong historical, cultural, and linguistic ties between its constituent peoples. In English usage, ''Scandinavia'' most commonly refers to Denmark, Norway, and Swe ...

were more than above normal. Several of the fires were started by people using disposable barbecues, though bans on these were in place due to the weather conditions. Some were started by lightning strikes. Wildfires also occurred in the neighbouring countries

Denmark ) , song = ( en, "King Christian stood by the lofty mast") , song_type = National and royal anthem , image_map = EU-Denmark.svg , map_caption = , subdivision_type = Sovereign state , subdivision_name = Kingdom of Denmark , establish ...

Finland Finland ( fi, Suomi ; sv, Finland ), officially the Republic of Finland (; ), is a Nordic country in Northern Europe. It shares land borders with Sweden to the northwest, Norway to the north, and Russia to the east, with the Gulf of B ...

and

Norway Norway, officially the Kingdom of Norway, is a Nordic country in Northern Europe, the mainland territory of which comprises the western and northernmost portion of the Scandinavian Peninsula. The remote Arctic island of Jan Mayen and the ...

, but no casualties due to wildfires were reported in Scandinavia.

Timeline

The first significant wildfires in Sweden were recorded in May, and by 23 July there were more than fifty, covering . The fires were distributed throughout much of Sweden, ranging from north of the Arctic Circle to the southernmost county of

Scania Scania, also known by its native name of Skåne (, ), is the southernmost of the historical provinces (''landskap'') of Sweden. Located in the south tip of the geographical region of Götaland, the province is roughly conterminous with Skåne ...

. The largest areas lost to fire are in Gävleborg and Jämtland, each , followed by

Dalarna Dalarna () is a '' landskap'' (historical province) in central Sweden. English exonyms for it are Dalecarlia () and the Dales. Dalarna adjoins Härjedalen, Hälsingland, Gästrikland, Västmanland and Värmland. It is also bordered by Norwa ...

at and Västernorrland at . Based on data from the last decade, the expected number of wildfires in July would be three. It is highly unusual for areas of this size to be affected by wildfires (both individual fires and total size of all), but historically there have been larger, notably in 1888 where burned. Most affected areas in 2018 have relatively low human population densities, but it was still necessary to evacuate many people from several villages. In areas not under risk of fire but affected by smoke thousands of people were asked to stay indoors and close their windows. In addition to the country's firefighters and civilian volunteers, Sweden's armed forces were involved, mostly providing manpower and equipment such as helicopters. Locally the

air force An air force – in the broadest sense – is the national military branch that primarily conducts aerial warfare. More specifically, it is the branch of a nation's armed services that is responsible for aerial warfare as distinct from an ...

also used aerial bombings by

JAS 39 Gripen The Saab JAS 39 Gripen (; English: ''griffin'') is a light single-engine multirole fighter aircraft manufactured by the Swedish aerospace and defense company Saab AB. The Gripen has a delta wing and canard configuration with relaxed stabilit ...

fighter jets to make

firebreak A firebreak or double track (also called a fire line, fuel break, fireroad and firetrail in Australia) is a gap in vegetation or other combustible material that acts as a barrier to slow or stop the progress of a bushfire or wildfire. A firebre ...

s and draw oxygen from the wildfires. By June, several fires were out of control and Sweden requested help from neighbouring countries and via the European Union's Civil Protection Mechanism. Sweden received help from Denmark (firefighters and equipment),

Estonia Estonia, formally the Republic of Estonia, is a country by the Baltic Sea in Northern Europe. It is bordered to the north by the Gulf of Finland across from Finland, to the west by the sea across from Sweden, to the south by Latvia, a ...

(firefighters and equipment), France (soldiers, firefighters, water bombing aircraft), Finland (firefighters), Germany (firefighters, helicopters), Italy (water bombing aircraft), Lithuania (helicopter), Norway (firefighters and equipment, water bombing helicopters), Poland (firefighters and equipment), and Portugal (water bombing aircraft). In late July, Sweden received its first significant rain in months. Combined with firefighting, this meant that fires generally were reduced, although new ones continued to appear. This, along with the high risk of fire elsewhere in Europe, meant that firefighters from most countries had returned to their own countries by 30 July, although the Danish remained on active duty in Sweden into August. Some water bombing aircraft returned to their own countries, but others remained in Sweden.

2019

In March, several wildfires occurred in the south of Sweden. According to the Swedish Civil Contingencies Agency, the risk of fire was unusually high for the time of year.

References

External links

The wildfires - current situation
''

Dagens Nyheter ''Dagens Nyheter'' (, ), abbreviated ''DN'', is a daily newspaper in Sweden. It is published in Stockholm and aspires to full national and international coverage, and is widely considered Sweden's newspaper of record. History and profile ' ...

'' (Swedish) {{2018 wildfires 2018 wildfires Fires in Sweden Natural disasters in Sweden July 2018 events in Sweden 2018 in Sweden Climate change in Sweden