An orphanage fire that killed 11 people in Algeria during an intense heatwave has highlighted the growing fire risks facing the North African country , as authorities simultaneously battled more than 100 wildfires across several provinces.
The blaze broke out late on Wednesday at an orphanage in the Draria district on the outskirts of Algiers, killing 11 people, most of them children, and injuring 19 others. Algeria's National Security service said an electrical spark from an air-conditioning unit , which had reportedly been running continuously amid soaring temperatures, was the likely cause of the fire.
The tragedy came as Algeria grappled with a broader fire emergency fuelled by the intense heatwave, with temperatures forecast to reach 48C in parts of the country through the weekend.
Heatwave stretches emergency response
Algeria's Civil Protection Directorate on Thursday ordered personnel across 45 provinces, alongside members of the National Training and Intervention Unit, to report immediately for duty as authorities sought to bolster firefighting efforts nationwide.
By late afternoon, officials had recorded 111 fires affecting forests, brushland, agricultural land and palm groves. Firefighters had brought 65 blazes under control, while 46 remained active across 18 provinces.
Major operations were under way in Bejaia, Annaba, Skikda, Blida, Tizi Ouzou, Boumerdes, Ain Defla and Tlemcen, supported by firefighting aircraft and helicopters, while authorities evacuated residents from several communities threatened by advancing flames.
The current season is already proving more severe than recent years, according to the European Forest Fire Information System (EFFIS), part of the European Commission's Joint Research Centre, which told The New Arab that Algeria had recorded 21,227 hectares of burnt area as of 15 July - more than double the multiannual average for the same point in the year.
Morocco had recorded 2,485 hectares burned, a 77 percent increase on average, while Tunisia's 1,542 hectares was broadly in line with expected levels.
Fire seasons growing longer
Algeria has endured several devastating wildfire seasons in recent years, with major blazes killing more than 100 people in 2021 and at least 34 others in 2023, while destroying vast areas of forest and agricultural land.
EFFIS told The New Arab that wildfire seasons across the Mediterranean, including North Africa, are becoming longer, extending beyond their traditional July and August peak.
While fires were once largely confined to the height of summer, the monitoring body said it had increasingly recorded significant burned areas in late winter and early spring, as well as major fires continuing into September and October.
"Climate change plays a key role behind the increase in burnt area," EFFIS told The New Arab .
"As heat waves become longer, more frequent and more intense, the conditions for fire ignition and fire spread increase."
However, it said climate change was not the only factor, adding that "long-term demographic and landscape management trends also play a relevant role".
While future wildfire activity remains difficult to predict with certainty, EFFIS said that because climate change is a key driver, "it is expected that the current trends will continue and accentuate".