Report from the CTIF Forest Fire Commission Spring Meeting 2025 and the Aerial Firefighting Europe Conference 2025 in France
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Report from the CTIF Forest Fires Commission meeting and Aerial Firefighting Europe Conference from 25-27 of March 2025, in Bordeaux France.
Left photo and photo below: Zisoula Ntasiou, vice president of CTIF and the secretary of the CTIF Forest Fire Commission, was an invited speaker at the Aerial Firefighting Europe Conference from 25-27 of March 2025, in Bordeaux, France.
The host country for Spring 2025 meeting was France, specifically the French Civil Protection. A total of ten countries participated: France, Germany, Slovenia, Austria, the Czech Republic, Croatia, Belgium, Portugal, Norway, and Greece.
From the CTIF Executive Committee: CTIF President Milan Dubravac and vice president Christophe Marchal were also present.
By Zisoula Ntasiou, vice president of CTIF and the secretary of the CTIF Forest Fire Commission
As part of the meeting, a field visit was conducted to a local area affected by the devastating wildfire season of 2022, which burned approximately 30,000 hectares of pure pine forest.
A detailed presentation was delivered on the incident and the management strategies employed in the region, which constitutes the largest human-planted forest in Europe, covering approximately 1,120,000 hectares. This extreme wildfire event was intensified by a plume-driven fire behaviour with explosive characteristics that persisted throughout the night.
The necessity for systematic data collection on major wildfire incidents across Europe was emphasized, along with the joint presentation and analysis of such events to enhance knowledge-sharing.
This initiative aims to contribute to saving human lives and will serve as the primary objective of our committee, with efforts toward its institutionalization at the European level.
Following this, a guided tour was conducted at the local training centre and the largest fire station dedicated to forest fire incidents. An in-depth analysis was provided on the specialized vehicles and equipment used in the region, specifically designed for operations in pure forested areas.
The subsequent two days were dedicated to the European Aerial Firefighting Conference, organized by the French Civil Protection and Tangent link company. The event brought together stakeholders and private companies from around the world.
Investor interest was particularly high in next-generation firefighting aircraft, which are expected to enter service from 2028 onwards, replacing the existing Canadair and Dash aircraft currently in use by the French Civil Protection.
These new aircraft will serve multiple roles beyond aerial firefighting. During the conference, various presentations and speeches took place, as outlined in the following agenda.
The Chairman of our commission, Mr. Jean-Marc Bedogni of France, who also serves as the Director of the VALABRE Training Center, participated in the conference exhibition with a dedicated booth, showcasing the CL-415 simulator enhanced with artificial intelligence. Compared to the version presented at the same conference in 2019, the latest simulator now replicates real-life conditions with 100% accuracy.
Finally, the next meeting of the CTIF Forest Fires Commission is scheduled to take place in December 2025, with the exact date and location to be announced in a future report.
By Zisoula Ntasiou, vice president of CTIF and the secretary of the CTIF Forest Fire Commission
