The Netherlands has seen at least 314 recorded wildfires in 2023, with the month of June having the most fires recorded across the country. Data released by the Netherlands Institute for Public Safety (NIPV) also showed that the country had 70 fires in military areas and 21 field fires as well.
With June 2024 just around the corner, the fact that June was the month that saw the most wildfires in 2023 seems even more significant given the recent warm weather in the Netherlands. According to data released by the NIPV, June saw 191 wildfires in the Netherlands, with the month having an unusually long drought.
Emergency services in the Netherlands were given a GRIP-status during this time, meaning that firefighters had to follow special precautions and coordinate with other emergency services to ensure that swift and effective responses were made to the fires. Fires that led to emergency services being given a GRIP status were a wildfire in Assen on May 4, one in Bergen, Limburg on June 4, one in Purmerend on June 12, one in Musselkanaal on June 16, and a wildfire in Ter Apel on June 18, 2023.
According to data from the Royal Netherlands Meteorological Institute (KNMI), most of the fires occurred when temperatures in the Netherlands were between 20 and 30 degrees celsius. Only one wildfire occurred when the temperature was below zero degrees.
Fires on military land took place mostly in the mornings and evenings. “This is explainable by the fact that these are mainly the hours that the military does its training exercises,” researchers said. Field fires tended to take place in the months when grain harvest happened more - June, July and August.