Eight lifesaving ways to improve wildfire risk management Sadie Harley Scientific Editor Andrew Zinin Chief Editor As the flames advanced toward the village of Bédar in Spain's Almería province, the mayor gave a desperate order to ring the church bells to warn residents. It was not enough. The July 9 Los Gallardos fire, which claimed 13 lives and burned 7,000 hectares (17,300 acres), was Spain's third-deadliest on record.

Most of the victims were retired foreigners living in isolated homes who died trapped in their vehicles or fleeing on foot along dead-end paths in a landscape dominated by scrubland and rugged terrain, much of which is difficult to access. High temperatures and extremely dry weather turn scrub, grasslands and bushes into highly flammable fuel. This, combined with complex terrain that makes fire spread faster and unpredictably, poses an enormous challenge for firefighting efforts.

Andalusian legislation requires local emergency plans for forest fires in high-risk areas and self-protection plans for detached buildings and housing developments. However, there is a widespread problem with compliance and implementation of these measures. Fires are changing The disaster in Los Gallardos shows that this problem will only get worse unless we take decisive and effective action that goes beyond the current dominant paradigm of simply extinguishing and resisting fire.

Where, when and how fires occur is changing. Highly destructive fires are on the rise, and housing is expanding into the urban-forest interface. This exposes more homes to fire, and the risk is increasing most quickly in scrubland and grassland areas, which are not typically associated with fire risk.

This is a major problem for communities that do not know how to respond to a risk they have not often been exposed to. We therefore need to urgently rethink how fire risk is managed. Improving fire resilience It is unsustainable to respond only after a disaster has happened.

What we need are strategies based on preparedness, mitigation and adaptation. The following eight points are particularly important in achieving this. 1.

Manage social vulnerability Wildfires exacerbate the existing social vulnerabilities that affect people's ability to anticipate, cope with, withstand and recover from them. In high-risk areas, the population may include older people; people living alone in isolated homes; people with financial constraints; or people who do not know the local area well. Fires also pose a risk to local economies.

Businesses—including those that provide public services and infrastructure—can be vulnerable for a range of reasons, including flammable facilities, their location, or disruptions to supply chains, essential services and staff mobility. Targeted planning can identify and address all of these vulnerabilities. 2.

Adopt nature-based solutions Nature-based solutions have not been fully integrated into fire risk management, even though they are widely recognized as essential parts of climate change adaptation and nature restoration. Nature-based solutions include controlled grazing, the creation of less flammable habitats, green firebreaks and the restoration of water networks to increase ambient humidity and create areas that slow the spread of fire.