South Africa must prepare now for a more dangerous era of wildfire risk

The destructive fires sweeping through France and Spain, following recent emergencies in Greece and other parts of southern Europe, should be treated as a warning to South Africa that extreme heat, shifting rainfall patterns and rapidly changing vegetation conditions are creating a far more volatile fire environment.

Riskonet Africa says wildfires can no longer be viewed as seasonal events managed by emergency services. They must be treated as strategic risks capable of disrupting communities, agriculture, forestry, water systems, infrastructure, insurance portfolios, and supply chains at the same time.

"Europe is showing us what happens when abnormal heat meets dense, dry vegetation and intense winds. The result is not simply a larger fire. It is a systemic event that can overwhelm response capacity and cause losses across an entire region," says Volker von Widdern, Head: Strategic Risk at Riskonet Africa.