Wild Ways to Tame Wildfires

Across the globe, climate change is adding fuel to a dangerous type of fire: wildfires. So far in 2026, wildfires consumed 85 million hectares of land in Africa and 44 million hectares in Asia between January and April to set new records of land burned for this time period. The 150 million hectares of land burned globally during the first four months of 2026 is more than twice the size of Texas. As temperatures only continue to rise with the arrival of summer, the European Union just assembled a team of 777 firefighters from 14 different European nations along with 27 fire-fighting aircrafts, its biggest wildfire response team ever, to prepare its members for a summer of flames.

As climate change continues to warm and dry the planet, wildfires will become more common. They will also become more catastrophic by burning more land and degrading our air quality and therefore harming our health. And climate change is not the only thing sparking wildfires. Human-driven deforestation is causing wildfires as it dries out vegetation by reducing shade in forests; leaves behind small, flammable wood pieces; and eliminates large numbers of trees which are carbon dioxide absorbers, ultimately raising global temperatures.

The need for effective solutions is only growing more urgent. Thankfully, a look at different approaches to preventing and extinguishing wildfires embraced by different countries around the world shows that many solutions are developing.

High-Tech Means Highly Effective

One of the ways countries are responding to wildfires is through technological innovations. 

Japan

In Japan, researchers and governmental agencies joined forces with a Japanese soap company, Shabondama Soap Co., in 2001 to develop, test, and perfect an environmentally-friendly soap-based fire extinguisher, the first of its kind.

Traditional fire extinguishers require petroleum-based surfactants which greatly damage water- and soil-dwelling organisms. This product, however, has naturally sourced surfactants, making it highly biodegradable. And, it requires much less water than when water alone is used to extinguish fires. Soap doesn’t only eliminate germs, it can help eliminate wildfires, too!

United States

In the United States, researchers at Stanford University are testing a new formula for a fire-repellent sprayable gel that could be applied on homes and infrastructure to stop them from being set ablaze during wildfires. While similar products are currently available commercially, this gel offers longer-lasting protection due to additional layers that increase its ability to withstand fire. That’s hot!

Australia

Like other countries, Australian researchers, supported by the Australian government, are engineering firefighting drones. Australian bushfires are frequently ignited by lightning strikes, and early recognition and response is critical to managing them; however, remote bushfires commonly burn unidentified for multiple days. 

Drones could solve this problem by identifying lightning fires and limiting their spread. They can reimagine our response to wildfires as they have useful qualities that human firefighters lack: the ability to work over night, without rest, and on the same task again and again. These drones can expel wildfires at lightning speed — literally!

More Than One Right Way

Wildfires are also fought by following indigenous and traditional practices. 

Brazil

Since 2014, the Brazilian environmental protection agency (IBAMA) has collaborated with the Xerente Indigenous community in northern Brazil to perform traditional, controlled burns to decrease the likelihood of large forest fires in the Cerrado region. It might seem counterproductive to prevent fire with fire, but these fires kill large amounts of flammable grass and result in burn areas that protect villages from potential wildfires. IBAMA works alongside indigenous experts to ignite patches of fire and standby in case the fire grows too large. Teamwork makes the dreamwork!

Spain

In Catalonia, Spain, there has been an increase in the use of goats to mitigate wildfires. Mataro, the largest city in Catalonia, is participating in widespread European Union efforts to reduce wildfire breakouts. Using livestock to manage wildfires is not only effective but also environmentally-friendly as it replaces farm machinery.

Farmers have used goats and other livestock to carve out firebreaks for many centuries. By hungrily munching on the grass and brush at the edge of forests, the herd of 300 goats leave areas without vegetation that limit the spread of wildfires. It doesn’t get BAAAA-tter than that!

It Takes a Village

Fighting wildfires requires community involvement, too.

Mauritania

In West Africa, Mali refugees inhabiting the M’bera refugee camp formed a volunteer firefighting team called the Anti-Fire Brigade. Established in 2013, the team extinguishes deadly bushfires in Mauritania that have the potential to eliminate its scarce grazing areas. Having fled violence in Mali to this neighboring country, the volunteers view their firefighting as a way to give back to the Mauritanians for accepting them into their country. 

The group works tirelessly to fight fires without what many might consider essential to firefighting: water. African bushfires often occur far from water sources, leaving the volunteers to extinguish the fires by hitting the flames with highly heat resistant acacia tree branches. Water isn’t the only way to cool down flames!

Indonesia

In Indonesia, a grassroot organization, Alam Siak Lestari (ASL), enacted the “Healthy Ecosystem Alternative Livelihood (HEAL) Fisheries” program to decrease peatland fires. Peatlands, a type of wetland that covers much of Southeast Asia, are critical to the economic livelihood of many. But, they can be set ablaze and cause great social, economic, health, and environmental damage. 

HEAL helps communities in the Indonesia peatlands farm snakehead murrel fish that will be used to manufacture a health supplement made from their albumin, a protein known for its cell regeneration capabilities. The fish cultivation supports community members economically with income and business opportunities. At the same time, it helps the environment by keeping the peatlands moist and reducing slash-and-burn farming, both decreasing the risk of wildfires. Who knew fish could help fight fires!

Canada

After a record-breaking Canadian wildfire season in 2023, wildfire experts called for a change to how wildfires are fought in Canada. Traditionally, wildfires are fought reactively, with firefighters jumping into action to put out the flames once a fire breaks out; however, as wildfires grow more numerous and aggressive, even an endless amount of firefighters does not appear to be enough to extinguish all of them. So, experts pushed for preventative  forest closures when the risk of wildfires is high before wildfires begin. 

Government-ordered forest closures force all surrounding community members to be involved in wildfire mitigation. But, doing so can eliminate the risk of visitors sparking a fire from a campfire or trail vehicle. Importantly, when enacting such measures, authorities must ensure that the mobility rights of individuals are heavily considered and that the woods ban is specific. Of course, removing humans from the equation does not entirely eliminate the risk of wildfires, but it does decrease it!

You!

Finally, you can help fight wildfires no matter where you are in the world by helping to reverse deforestation when you support reforestation efforts. EARTHDAY.ORG’s Canopy Tree Project is enacting positive change in communities and for the environment by planting trees all over the globe.

We all can be firefighters and fight wildfires. We just have to choose how we want to put out the flames.

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