Alongside Europe in facing wildfires: CIMA Research Foundation in the ERCC Wildfire Support Team 2025

Every summer, when heatwaves and dry winds intensify wildfire risk, Europe deploys one of its most crucial coordination structures: the Wildfire Support Team of the ERCC, the Emergency Response Coordination Centre of the European Commission. Here, at the core of the European Civil Protection Mechanism, data, analyses, and forecasts are gathered to guide rapid decisions in situations where every hour can make a difference. For several years, CIMA Research Foundation has contributed its expertise to this cooperative network through the ARISTOTLE project, which provides analytical and forecasting support on complex natural hazards.

During the past summer, Andrea Trucchia and Giorgio Meschi, researchers in the Wildfire and Forest Biodiversity Conservation Department of CIMA Research Foundation, took part in the activities of the Wildfire Support Team, spending two weeks each in intense collaboration alongside European experts and ERCC staff. Their days were marked by daily briefings, constant updates, and a continuous flow of analyses that fed, in real time, into the decisions of European civil protection authorities.

Organizing the daily work

"Working at the ERCC means being aware that your scientific contribution immediately becomes operational," recalls Andrea Trucchia. "Every weather forecast, every updated fire danger index, every scenario evaluation can guide the choice of where to deploy aircraft or ground teams."

The team's work followed a well-defined structure: meteorological forecasts and fire danger indices at the pan-European scale, with a focus on the countries most at risk; daily updates on the states that had activated the Civil Protection Mechanism; contributions to weekly bulletins and periodic summary messages addressed to the European Commission's leadership. This is an intense and continuous activity that requires speed, accuracy, and the ability to interpret complex data in emergency situations.

Summer 2025: record wildfires and key cases

This year, the summer season showed its full severity. The Iberian Peninsula, in particular, was the scene of devastating fires: more than 550,000 hectares burned in just two weeks, a figure that pushed Europe beyond the historical record of burned area registered between 2006 and 2024. "It is striking to observe," says Giorgio Meschi, "how, under extreme fire danger conditions, fires develop an intensity and speed that make it impossible to fight the flames. It is like trying to extinguish a fireplace with a glass of water." We have analysed these dynamics here as well.

Alongside this general picture, there were also emblematic episodes. Andrea Trucchia closely followed the wildfire that struck the island of Chios in Greece, a threat not only to the environment but also to culture, as it endangered the Mastika plantations, an endemic and highly valuable crop.

By using tools developed by CIMA Research Foundation, such as RISICO and PROPAGATOR, it was possible to monitor the evolution of the fire front in real time and provide forecasting scenarios to support operational decisions. "In those days," recalls Trucchia, "the sense of responsibility was strong: every simulation could help protect a unique heritage and guide action on the ground. Science gives you numbers, but behind those numbers there are people and landscapes."

By using tools developed by CIMA Research Foundation, such as RISICO and PROPAGATOR, it was possible to monitor the evolution of the fire front in real time and provide forecasting scenarios to support operational decisions. "In those days," recalls Trucchia, "the sense of responsibility was strong: every simulation could help protect a unique heritage and guide action on the ground. Science gives you numbers, but behind those numbers there are people and landscapes."

Meetings with deployed teams on the ground, briefings with national authorities, and complex coordination among Member States marked a summer that saw the first historic activation of Spain, the request for assets by Greece, and simultaneous emergencies in Portugal and Montenegro. The ERCC is not only a technical center, but also a place of negotiation and political-operational dialogue among Member States, where scientific analyses become a shared basis for joint decisions.

A shared European commitment

The collaboration with the ERCC, renewed every summer, demonstrates how applied science and analytical expertise can be transformed into concrete tools for managing emergencies. Every forecast, every bulletin, every scenario contributes to a chain of decisions that crosses national borders, networking skills and resources.

"The strength of this experience," concludes Trucchia, "lies in seeing how scientific knowledge becomes immediately part of a collective response. It is proof that science, when placed at the service of people, can truly make a difference."