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Wildfire Maps Now Cover New Regions in Europe and Africa

Wildfire Maps Now Cover New Regions in Europe and Africa

April 10, 2025
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Wildfire Maps Now Cover New Regions in Europe and Africa

In July, wildfires raged across the Greek islands of Kos, Chios, and Crete, keeping firefighters busy through the night. Meanwhile, in Spain's Extremadura region, authorities mobilized 60 personnel to tackle one of the 18 forest fires threatening the area. Over in Cyprus, a wildfire in the Paphos region was sparked by light refracted through broken glass. Reports suggest that fire-prone areas in Europe have doubled over the past 50 years.

Thanks to AI, we can now track wildfire boundaries in detail on Search and Maps, and send location-based push notifications. This summer, we're rolling out this tool to 15 more countries in Europe and Africa:

  • Andorra
  • Bosnia & Herzegovina
  • Croatia
  • Cyprus
  • France
  • Greece
  • Italy
  • Kenya
  • Monaco
  • Montenegro
  • Portugal
  • Rwanda
  • Slovenia
  • Spain
  • Türkiye

We're making this info available through alerts and features that help folks stay safe near wildfires.

Accurate and Reliable Tracking

Google's AI-powered wildfire tracking model uses a bunch of data sources, including different satellite imagery sets. We check our model against our own fire scar model—shapes we figure out after a fire's been put out—based on past wildfire data. Other AI models help confirm if there's really a fire, which all together gives us more accurate wildfire boundaries than just using satellite images.

Accessible and Useful Information When People Need It

As we rolled out this new feature this summer, we mapped over 40 wildfires in southern Europe, including fires in Spain, Greece, and Cyprus last month, and others from Portugal to Kenya.

We displayed these wildfire boundaries on Search and Maps and sent out notifications to help people stay informed and safe. In the first week of July alone, over 1.4 million people saw our wildfire info after fires broke out across Europe and Africa.

Our wildfire boundary tracking is designed to be helpful for both locals and tourists who might not speak the local language. Notifications are tailored based on user settings and preferred languages, so travelers can get timely, local wildfire updates in their own language during peak tourist season.

We also overlay this info on Google Maps driving directions, so travelers can see if there are wildfires near their planned route.

This is just one way we're using AI to help communities worldwide deal with climate change and its dangers. We've launched this feature in countries hit hard by wildfires in recent summers, based on how well our model works in each place. As we keep improving our models, we hope to bring this to more countries and keep sharing vital info when people need it most.

*Wildfire tracking is already available in the US, Canada, Australia, Brazil, Argentina, Chile, and Mexico.

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Comments (28)
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ThomasMiller
ThomasMiller August 9, 2025 at 9:00:59 AM EDT

Les cartes des incendies couvrent maintenant plus de régions, c'est impressionnant ! Mais franchement, ça fait peur de voir autant de feux en Europe et en Afrique. Est-ce que la tech peut vraiment aider à gérer ça ou c'est juste pour faire joli ? 😕

JonathanLewis
JonathanLewis August 8, 2025 at 1:00:59 AM EDT

Wildfires are getting wilder every year! 😓 This map expansion is cool, but it’s scary how fast these fires spread across Europe and Africa. Hope the tech helps firefighters save more land!

KeithSmith
KeithSmith August 2, 2025 at 11:07:14 AM EDT

Wildfire maps expanding to new regions is super cool! It's wild how tech can track blazes in places like Greece and Cyprus now. Hope it helps firefighters save more lives! 🔥

JustinJackson
JustinJackson April 25, 2025 at 5:43:41 AM EDT

Os novos mapas de incêndios florestais são um salva-vidas para rastrear incêndios na Europa e na África! São detalhados e atualizados frequentemente, o que é ótimo. Mas a interface poderia ser mais amigável ao usuário. Ainda assim, é essencial para quem está preocupado com incêndios florestais nessas regiões. 🔥🌍

WillieJackson
WillieJackson April 19, 2025 at 3:22:35 AM EDT

¡Los nuevos mapas de incendios forestales son un salvavidas para seguir los incendios en Europa y África! Son detallados y se actualizan con frecuencia, lo cual es genial. Pero la interfaz podría ser más amigable para el usuario. Aún así, es imprescindible para cualquiera preocupado por los incendios forestales en estas regiones. 🔥🌍

RogerJackson
RogerJackson April 15, 2025 at 6:00:03 PM EDT

유럽과 아프리카의 산불 추적에 Wildfire Maps가 정말 유용해요. 새로운 지역이 추가된 건 좋은데, 인터페이스가 좀 더 사용자 친화적이면 좋겠어요. 그래도 산불에 신경 쓰는 사람에겐 필수 앱이에요! 🔥

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