Mega Fires: Beyond Extinction

The beginning of 2023 has triggered fears Spain is on the precipice of an historic black summer. In just four months fire has already devastated more than 50,000 hectares of land in the midst of a prolonged and severe drought affecting much of the country. Last year —the warmest and fourth driest in six decades— more than 306,000 forest hectares were destroyed by 493 fires. This year, aggravated environmental conditions coupled with premature fire events have foreshadowed an even more turbulent season. 

We started this project with countless unanswered questions on a topic as intricate as it is ever-evolving. Our first step was to spend six months researching and building a close network of experts. Now we have more questions than ever, but a far better clue as to how to approach such a complex phenomenon through visual journalism.

Records on forest fires in Spain began to be compiled in 1968. In these last six decades, much has changed: the environment, land use, forestry and environmental protocols, legislation, demographics, temperatures and precipitation rates. As a result, the way fires behave has also changed. Forest fires are now capable of much wider extension and ruin, they are becoming more frequent and at the same time are demanding greater strategy when it comes to controlling and extinguishing them.

For these reasons and as they are one of today’s greatest environmental challenges, this year Sonda Internacional will focus solely on mega fires: a destructive and often misunderstood force, prematurely thrusting Spain into a new chapter of firefighting.

While there is no international consensus on the specifications of a mega fire, for the purpose of this report, and under the guidance of Spain’s leading experts, we will define them as fires which burn an area of more than 5,000 hectares or emit more than 10,000 kilowatts of energy per square meter. 

The causes of these mega fires are varied yet intrinsically linked, inflamed by the pervasive reach of a worsening climate crisis acting as a catalyst and an accelerator. Mega Fires: Beyond Extinction delves, through visual journalism, into the causes and consequences of mega fires and the work being done to counter them.

This project seeks to illustrate the circumstances surrounding the mega fires devastating Spain by generating a central guide to this phenomenon, presenting the new fire behavior and explaining its consequences on the land and the people. It will also compile the strategies for combating and living alongside them; unearth how ecosystems recover and utilize them; and share the solution projects mitigating their proliferation. As always, the project will tell these stories through photo, video and graphic resources as the main tool. Because seeing is essential to understanding.

Very soon we will begin to publish the first installments of this long-term project. In recent weeks we have been to the provinces of Barcelona, Tarragona, Cáceres, Castellón, Zamora, Cuenca, Guadalajara, León, Soria and Teruel investigating these large-scale fires. 

This project is only possible thanks to the collaboration of experts and, above all, of the community of partners who support our visual journalism on the climate crisis.

We are a small non-profit media outlet. Our only means of financing is through donations and our budget is very small, so we plan to develop this project as support arrives to finance it.

If you are interested in mega fires and want to support the development of this project, you can make a one-time donation or become a monthly or annual member here.

And if you have any questions or suggestions, do not hesitate to contact us.

Director: Mikel Konate | Text: Lily Mayers | Video: Pablo Tosco, Mikel Konate and Simón Casal | Photography: Pablo Tosco and Santi Palacios | Design and illustration: Jorge Mileto | Text editing: Maribel Izcue | Data analysis and visualization: Javi Aparicio | Photography and video assistant: Júlia Cussó | Web development: Full Circle | Production: Sonda International.