The period of high danger for forest fires ends with figures that are within the annual average, despite the severe drought this year

The two fires in the Albufera de Mallorca have burned 112.4 hectares, which represents 81% of the total area burned in the Balearic Islands in 2024.

The Regional Ministry of Agriculture, Fisheries and the Natural Environment has taken stock of the high-risk forest fire campaign in the Balearic Islands, which began on 1 April in the Pitiusas and on 15 April in Mallorca and Menorca, and ends today, 15 October, throughout the archipelago. The Minister Joan Simonet, along with the Director General of Natural Environment and Forest Management, Anna Torres, the head of the Forest Management Service of the Government, Joan Santana, and the manager of the Balearic Institute of Nature (IBANAT), Tomeu Llabrés, has presented this morning at a press conference the data recorded to date. The figures for the number of fires and the area burnt are within the annual average of the historical series (1983-2023); nevertheless, the minister stressed that ‘the risk of forest fires exists throughout the year. We cannot be complacent. We ask the population to be very prudent and cautious because fires are one of the greatest threats to our natural environment. With fire, we must always be on high alert.

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The risk of forest fires exists all year round

Since 1 April 2024, 128.8 hectares have been burnt in the Balearic Islands (93 % of the whole year) in 65 fires (80 % of the whole year). Of this affected area, 9 % is woodland (mainly in Mallorca), and the rest is treeless (reeds, scrub, reeds, etc.). According to the statistics for the high forest fire danger campaign currently available, the Balearic Islands are slightly above the average for the last ten years in terms of the number of fires (65 fires compared with 60). In terms of the area burnt, it is also above average (128 hectares compared to 99). From 1 January 2024 to date, the Fire Fighting Operation (OIF) of the Regional Ministry of Agriculture, Fisheries and the Natural Environment, together with the other bodies involved in the Special Civil Protection Plan for Forest Fire Emergencies (INFOBAL), has worked to extinguish 85 forest fires, with 138.7 hectares affected. By islands, 92 % of the area affected was in Mallorca, 5 % in Menorca, mainly in a single incident, and the rest (2 %) in Ibiza and Formentera. In terms of the number of fires, 62 % were in Mallorca, 25 % in Ibiza, 7 % in Formentera and 6 % in Menorca.

The four most important forest fires of the year were the one in Son Serra (in the municipality of Es Mercadal) on 12 March, which burned 7.5 hectares; the one in the torrent of Es Morts (in Son Servera) on 10 April, which burned 4.2 hectares, and the two fires in the Albufera de Mallorca (in Sa Pobla) on 28 May and 8 October, which burned 50.4 and 62.0 hectares respectively. These last two fires burned 112.4 hectares, 81 % of the total area burned in 2024 in the Balearic Islands.

In this regard, the head of the Forest Management Service of the Government, Joan Santana, stressed that ‘the rapid intervention of the means of extinction, especially aerial means, has meant that the vast majority of the fires (89%) have remained in conatos (fires of less than one hectare of burned area)’. As for the causes, the head of the Forest Management Service explained that the accumulated fires in 2024 were mainly caused by negligence, accidents and intentional causes (89 %), and the rest (11 %) by natural causes (lightning).

According to official fire statistics for the last fifteen years, the general trend in terms of the number of fires in the Balearic Islands is downward, thanks to the actions taken to raise awareness, risk awareness, environmental education and regulations on the use of fire. However, Simonet pointed out that the outlook for fire risk is on the rise, due to the increase in the vulnerability factor and the probability of ignition (more resident population, more visitors in complicated areas and more presence of urban-forest interface). Along these lines, the councillor reiterated that the key to fighting forest fires lies in self-protection and risk awareness in forest-urban interface areas, as well as in the tasks of fire prevention and active forest management. He also insisted on the importance of permanent training and education in prevention.

Up to September 2024, the OIF’s Forest Fire Communications Centre (CCIF) had responded to almost 3,000 incidents, including controlled burns, wildlife incidents, false smoke alarms and agricultural fires.

Inter-island forest fire operation

It should be remembered that the OIF’s resources are fully inter-island in nature, with the capacity to act on any island at any time, with the mobilisation of aerial resources (helicopters and aeroplanes) and specialised personnel (IBANAT heliborne brigades, environmental agents, forestry engineers, etc.), if necessary. For example, this year aerial resources have been mobilised from Mallorca to attend to the fires in Es Mercadal and Formentera. All of this is centralised through the CCIF, which has the appropriate risk analysis tools, meteorological data, remote cameras, fire behaviour simulation applications and all ground and aerial communications. New this year, the contract for the meteorological analysis and forest fire behaviour simulation support service was recently signed, to provide a support tool for technical analysis and facilitating decision-making.

The inter-island forest fire fighting system (OIF), which operates throughout the year, is fully activated during the summer fire season. In 2024, some 350 people took part in the operation: aircrew and mechanics, air base operators, advanced command post (PMA) assistants, mechanics, CCIF operators, watchmen, fire engine personnel, foreman chiefs and IBANAT brigade members, environmental agents (AMA) and the Forest Fire Technical Group (forestry technicians from the IBANAT Forest Management Service). The entire fleet of land vehicles, fire engines, surveillance and first intervention vehicles, brigade transport vehicles, etc. were also available.

As every year, the firefighters of Mallorca, Palma, Ibiza, Menorca and Formentera, Civil Protection, personnel from the Balearic Islands Emergency Service 112 (SEIB112), local police, the Nature Protection Service (SEPRONA) and the operational unit of the Directorate General for Emergencies and the Interior also collaborated. Likewise, the Military Emergency Unit (UME) has always been ready to intervene in the Balearic Islands.

A season marked by drought

Meteorologically, the 2024 campaign in the Balearic Islands has been marked by a marked drought due to the lack of rainfall during the autumn and winter, which carried over into the spring: the standardised precipitation index (SPI) in March was extremely dry for the Pitiusas and very dry for Mallorca and Menorca. This fact, together with the unusually high temperatures of spring, forced us to advance the period of high risk of forest fire to the 1st of April in the Pitiusas and to the 15th of April in the rest of the Balearic Islands. During the campaign, there have been a significant number of days with warnings from the State Meteorological Agency (AEMET) for high temperatures and a situation of extreme fire risk, with alert level for the meteorological risk of forest fire ‘Fire 4’, the highest risk scenario.