World News: France On Fire
- Details
- Category: Haute This Issue
- Published on Monday, 27 July 2026 11:15
- Written by Olivier Longhi
The fires that are ravaging Europe and France in particular raise questions about the availability of material means to deal with them, but also about the management of human habitat in a context of inevitable global warming.
The mega-fires that are now regularly ravaging Europe and France during the summer period can only raise questions about a number of subjects related to the appearance and development of these fires as well as about the means made available to the Civil Security to deal with them.
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On this point in particular, the observation invites humility: Of the twelve Canadairs that France has, only seven are operational in this year 2026. Too few to deal with the current fire. The reasons that have led to this reality are multiple. Underestimation of the climatic situation and lack of funds dedicated to the upkeep and maintenance of these devices are among the accused. But putting the equipment and those in charge of it on trial would be too easy and could easily exonerate the public authorities from their responsibilities while it remains intact.
We could also point the finger at the maintenance of forest areas and massifs, local roads and departmental roads, the surroundings of private pavilions... In short! All this to arrive at the answer that fire management is above all a collective and global affair.
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Extinguishment
But beyond the elements mentioned above, there is the question of the occupation of the territory and the trace of Man in his environment. More precisely, when firefighters intervene to extinguish a fire in a forest or wooded area, they act with the primary objective of protecting the space concerned to prevent the fire from spreading as close as possible to homes and therefore to populations.
A fire that ravages a forest turns out to be an environmental disaster, but it remains acceptable as long as no population is concerned or threatened. What these fires teach us is that we will have to quickly rethink the location of our habitats and especially the way we inhabit our territories in the coming decade because global warming will not wait for us. Today, it is no longer a question of a single environmental issue but a question of land use planning in a global context of adaptation to climate change.
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Gasoline and Obstructions
Limiting urban expansion and containing forest areas, dense or not, extensive or not, within defined perimeters far from each other will become a necessity, especially with constant financial and economic means. Imagining the planting of species that are more resistant to heat waves, educating the population on the maintenance of forest areas, tightening the obstacles to the Environmental Code, are all reflections to be put into practice to prevent the current fires from happening again.
If the heat wave of August 2003 taught us to manage and prevent the assistance to be given to the weakest, the fires of 2026 must serve as the basis for a future fire management policy, not in the middle of the blazes but during the off-season, in winter.
In the end, what is burning today is certainly forests, but also a way of occupying the territory, managing it and neglecting the means that are supposed to defend it. It is clear that all this needs to be rethought without delay.
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Bio: Olivier Longhi has extensive experience in European history. A seasoned journalist with fifteen years of experience, he is currently a professor of history and geography in the Toulouse region of France. He has held a variety of publishing positions, including Head of Agency and Chief of Publishing. A journalist and recognized blogger, editor, and editorial project manager, he has trained and managed editorial teams, worked as a journalist for various local radio stations, was a press and publishing consultant, and was a communications consultant.