These were – and are – intensive days for Edwin Kok. He is National Coordinator for Wildfire Management on behalf of the Netherlands Institute of Public Safety. He has half an hour to spend NRC to look back on what is a unique week in several respects. The Netherlands is plagued by the largest wave of wildfires in years. The fires in 2020 in the Deurnese Peel and De Meinweg were larger in size, but relatively manageable. This week, spread across the country, everything came at once. On Thursday around 3 p.m., five very large fires raged simultaneously in the Netherlands, with dozens of small ones surrounding them. Kok: “That is completely different from what we have seen before.”
The situation was like this trickyKok says by telephone that the Netherlands submitted a request for help to the EU in Brussels for the first time in his memory on Thursday evening. Germany and France quickly responded, and “around thirty” manned foreign fire engines crossed the Dutch border on Friday morning.
How badly was foreign aid needed?
“If another major fire had occurred on Thursday, we would not have had the capacity to fight it effectively. In our coordination center in Zeist we came to the conclusion that in that case we still had one or two platoons at our disposal. In the event of a major fire, this means nothing.
“What was also a factor is that we had already deployed our own people for days under difficult conditions. Some have worked twenty-hour days. International deployment is also necessary so that our own people can relax. The Dutch fire brigade is very good at flash power. Think of a large building that is on fire: you go there with many units, you stand there for four to five hours, and then you go back to the barracks. What we see this week requires more perseverance.”
Have we gotten through the eye of the needle?
“I don’t know whether you should use those words. What we have been warning about for some time is that simultaneity is a very big problem in the Netherlands. If several major fires break out at the same time, we have to make do. Not only is it tight in terms of basic units, but we also only have one helicopter team. And two hand crews. They have now also been working non-stop for almost two days. That squeaks and creaks.”
Does the fact that we need foreign aid say more about Dutch shortcomings, or about the strength of the European Union?
“Especially about the latter, as far as I am concerned. We made a request on Thursday evening, and before midnight it was already clear which teams would come, and that they would be here at 10 a.m. Friday morning. This is exactly what the European Civil Protection Pool [het Europese reservoir van noodhulp waar nu een beroep op is gedaan] has been invented.
Wildfire management coordinator Edwin Kok
Photo Gerard Voortman
Lots of water
“In Europe, the weather distribution is often such that if it is dry in the north, it is wet in the south – and vice versa. So if there is a fire in southern Europe, countries in the north can provide assistance. Now you see the opposite. We also had several offers, and opted for the closest teams. But we could also have received assistance from southern Europe, where it is now wetter.”
Don’t we just need more fire-fighting units, vehicles and helicopters in the Netherlands? Due to climate change, conditions for fires will increasingly improve, you warn. Isn’t it risky to gamble on foreign capacity?
“It is not without reason that the Security Council is very active urgent call has told the cabinet: we need significant investments for the fire brigade. Climate risks are increasing. We see more and more high-rise buildings and the energy transition is going very fast. We have to be able to adapt to that. By the way, it’s not just about more stuff. We also need to use our capacity more intelligently. In the Netherlands, for example, we are used to extinguishing fires with a lot of water. Abroad, more work is done with hand crews, who are specialized in removing fuels, for example by removing tree roots. This limits the spread.
“The Defense Department has a highly specialized fire brigade. The fire in ‘t Harde also remained neatly within the fences.”
“It is also special that an enormous amount is being invested in Defense. I understand that, there is also a real risk – but we also see all kinds of other risks coming our way. And we had anticipated those risks. Why are investments in the civil protection side lagging behind?”
In fact, a large proportion of wildfires start on defense grounds during military exercises. This is done out of collective security interests, while collective security is actually jeopardized as a result.
“That is a contradiction that I am not a fan of. The Defense Department has had hundreds of fires at those shooting ranges in recent years. They have a highly specialized fire brigade, especially at the artillery shooting range [in ’t Harde] where the big fire was. We learn a lot from that. The fire in ‘t Harde also remained neatly within the fences. Yes, it was a very large fire, with an impact on the environment, but all preventive measures were effective. The frame that the Ministry of Defense causes a fire and we are left with the consequences lacks nuance. I would like to convey that.”
