For Jan Harris, watching wildfires tear through Europe from her rebuilt home in rural New South Wales brings tears.
The 67-year-old lost her house to a bushfire in 2018 and knows the hard road ahead for those now fleeing flames in the UK, Spain, Portugal, and France.
Extreme heat has fueled unprecedented outbreaks across Europe, forcing evacuations in north Wales and destroying hundreds of homes near Paris.
In Spain, a wildfire killed 13 people, including seven Britons. Major fires also hit the US and Canada during intense heatwaves, underscoring a worsening global crisis.
Lessons From the Frontline
Harris recalls March 18, 2018, when temperatures hit 38°C. Despite clearing gutters and preparing water tanks, the flames approached too fast.
She grabbed her son's insulin and fled with her husband.
Their home was destroyed, along with 64 other buildings.
Two years later, during the Black Summer fires that killed 33 people and destroyed over 3,000 homes, they evacuated twice more.
Bushfires are ancient in Australia, but managing risk requires modern cooperation between authorities and citizens.
Public systems like daily fire risk ratings and mandatory survival plans help mitigate danger.
"Australia has some of the most bushfire-prone land in the world," says Ben Shepherd, a superintendent at Fire and Rescue New South Wales.
"The public has to understand the risk and what they can do to alleviate it."
This shared approach includes regular reminders to clear flammable debris and establish evacuation triggers.
Recent severe seasons have driven international collaboration, with Australian personnel and air tankers deploying to the US west coast.
"Around the world we are seeing conditions we haven’t seen before," says Shepherd.
"The more we all learn from each other, the better it is for us all around the globe."
A Changing Global Landscape
Emergency leaders say the expansion of wildfire threats into traditional structural firefighting regions was anticipated.
Urban tactics do not translate easily to vast, remote forest terrains where locating a blaze takes hours.
"I was a bit of a lone voice at the time," says Greg Mullins, former commissioner of Fire and Rescue New South Wales, recalling his 2004 warning to European fire chiefs.
"But everything was drying out. This is what has been predicted for decades."
Longer, hotter seasons are shifting the baseline for fire risk globally, especially in temperate zones.
Data shows a sharp escalation in frequency and financial toll over the past decade.
"Fires are and will continue to burn hotter, particularly in temperate and Mediterranean climate zones," says Dr. Grant Williamson, a wildfire expert at the University of Tasmania.
"43% of the 200 most damaging wildfires occurred in the last decade."
Back in Reedy Swamp, the Harrises rebuilt using strict bushfire-rated standards: a 50-meter cleared perimeter, specialized gutter guards, and an independent water pump.
But Harris emphasizes that leaving early remains the safest choice.
"I would just leave," says Harris. "If we’d stayed another 10 minutes last time, we wouldn’t be alive."
The psychological burden outlasts physical recovery. Accepting support and complying with evacuation orders are vital.
"We often don’t spend enough time just sitting with what’s happened," says Harris. "It’s frightening and heartbreaking.
Yes it was financially difficult, but at huge emotional cost."
Prioritizing personal safety over property is her core lesson.
"When an authority asks you to evacuate, if we choose not to, are we then asking them to come and save us?
That’s a really big ask."
Despite the losses, survival brings gratitude.
"As much as I am mournful for what we have lost, I am pretty happy to be here," says Harris.
