EU to spend €170m on new planes and helicopters to fight raging forest fires

A firefighting airplane flies over a wildfire near Alcublas, eastern Spain in August. The summer season saw the EU's Emergency Response Coordination Centre (ERCC) receive 11 requests for assistance for forest fires, while 33 planes and eight helicopters were deployed across Europe. Photo: AP/Alberto Saiz

The unenviable record-breaking wildfire season this summer in Europe has prompted the EU to bolster its defences with a €170m package including new planes, helicopters, and firefighters.

Repeated heatwaves across the continent throughout the summer, coupled with drought conditions, led to the scarring of large tranches of land in the likes of France and Portugal. According to the European Commission, 2022 has broken previous records.