Prescribed burning is the deliberate and carefully controlled use of fire to reduce fuel loads and strengthen landscape resilience. It involves the expert, deliberate, and authorised use of fire in designated areas, to achieve specific land management objectives. This practice is well established and commonly used in several European countries, notably France, Spain and Portugal.
During the 2025 wildfire season, more than 1 million hectares burned across the European Union, according to the European Forest Fire Information Systemopens in new tab (EFFIS). This is the highest figure recorded within the EU since 2006. As a result, the urgency for proactive fire and landscape management has never been greater. One of the tools gaining renewed attention is prescribed burning.
Marco Pires, Assistant Commander in Portugal’s Civil Protection Special Force (FEPC), has extensive experience with both prescribed burning as a preventive measure and with suppression fire during wildfire operations.
Pires, who began his career as a volunteer firefighter in 1996 before joining the Special Force for Civil Protection, has developed deep expertise in fire behaviour analysis and forest conservation. Drawing on decades of field experience, he stresses the importance of viewing fire not solely as a threat but as a natural process, one that, when understood and applied correctly, can be used strategically to reduce future risks.
Some experts distinguish between “good fire” and “bad fire.” Good fire refers to controlled, planned burns carried out under carefully selected conditions to manage vegetation, reduce fuel loads, and maintain ecosystem health. Bad fire refers to uncontrolled wildfires that threaten lives, property and ecosystems, and require suppression measures, such as building firelines, deploying firefighting crews and aircraft, and using water or retardant to halt or slow fire spread.
Fire, Pires explains, is one of the many tools available to firefighters and fire engineers. Their operational “toolbox” includes aircraft, engines, hand tools, heavy machinery, and fire itself. When applied deliberately and under the right conditions, fire can be a strategic instrument for reducing fuel and shaping fire behaviour. Yet it is also the most unpredictable tool to work with, and mastering it demands rigorous training and a deep understanding of how fire behaves in different environments.
The purpose of controlled or prescribed burning is to reduce fuel loads while supporting pasture renewal and maintaining habitats and ecosystems. Pires explains that fire has shaped our landscapes long before humans existed; it is a natural element, not an enemy. As he puts it:
“Perhaps we should reconsider the term ‘firefighters’. Rather than fighting fire in all its forms, we should strive to become ‘fire understanders’. The better we understand how fire behaves, the better equipped we are to take effective measures and make informed decisions.”
Removing fire entirely from our landscapes is neither possible nor desirable, according to Pires. Instead, by using “good fire”, under the right conditions, we can help prevent the large, destructive wildfires we seek to avoid during the summer season.
In Portugal, prescribed burning represents more than a technical intervention, it reflects a cultural notion of how fire is perceived. Historically, fire has always been present in European landscapes. By applying fire deliberately to manage fuel loads, Portugal aims to reduce the intensity and spread of future wildfires, protect ecosystems and safeguard communities.
Prescribed burning looks very different in shrubland than in forests, Pires explains. Shrubland contains highly flammable vegetation that can produce intense flames, making timing and close supervision essential. Forest burns, by contrast, are carried out under cooler conditions, to avoid stressing trees or making them vulnerable to insects and disease. In forests, the aim is not to burn the trees themselves, but only the top layer of dead organic material, thereby reducing fuel while preserving the overall forest structure.
Effective prescribed burning demands a detailed understanding of meteorology, fuel types, soil conditions and ecological responses. Some vegetation ignites easily even in rain or snow, while others can only be burned in certain seasons.
According to Pires, these subtle differences in how various fuels react to fire are precisely what make prescribed burning such a valuable “laboratory” for learning. It offers firefighters a controlled environment in which they can observe fire behaviour and understand the complex dynamics of wildfires to ultimately manage them more safely and effectively.
Pires explains prescribed burning as a remedy to uncontrolled wildfires, a tool applied by trained experts under strict conditions.
“The meaning of prescribed burning lies in the word itself. Much like a doctor’s prescription, it is a treatment applied under carefully defined conditions, an intentional remedy designed to prevent a far more dangerous illness: an uncontrolled wildfire.”
In Portugal, planning and executing prescribed burns requires close coordination among multiple entities. Each burn requires a detailed strategic plan prepared by trained technicians, supported by an operational plan and supervised by a certified burn controller with operational staff on site. Collaboration with local civil protection authorities, municipal forestry offices and sub-regional command centres is mandatory. After each burn, detailed records and reports are produced to analyse outcomes and inform future operations. A standardised national digital platform makes it possible to have all this data in a single, easily accessible location. This meticulous approach ensures that prescribed burning is safe, effective, and reproducible.
The Portuguese system relies on clear governance and legal framework. The Institute for Nature Conservation and Forests (ICNF)opens in new tab leads prescribed burning operations, while the National Authority for Emergency and Civil Protection (ANEPC)opens in new tab manages suppression fires. Although legal frameworks provide guidance for many scenarios, operational coordination can be challenging, particularly on private land or within the wildland–urban interface.
Since 2018, with the creation of the Agency for the Integrated Management of Rural Fires, I.P. (AGIF)opens in new tab, Portugal has advanced towards a more integrated fire management framework. This shift has been accompanied by improved institutional coordination, increased public awareness, and a reported reduction in the number of ignitions.
However, reductions in ignition frequency do not necessarily translate into proportional decreases in burned area, as large wildfires, although relatively infrequent, account for a disproportionate share of the total area burned.
Effective wildfire management, Pires explains, requires not only technical competence but also a deep understanding of landscapes, ecosystems, and human settlements. By integrating prescribed fire into regular forest management, Portugal aims to foster resilience and coexistence with fire, rather than attempting to eliminate it entirely.
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