One hundred years of forest fires in Poland – historical and socio-economic context

Background Scots pine (Pinus sylvestris L.) covers 60% of Poland’s forests and is considered fire-prone. Understanding historical fire regimes provides a baseline for evaluating changes; yet, Poland’s historical forest fire characteristics remain poorly documented. Aim To reconstruct the century-long history of forest fires in Poland, within its socio-economic context. Methods We used an interdisciplinary approach to analyse 20th- and 21st-century forest fire regimes in Poland, integrating archive data, historical research theses, press reports, scientific papers, existing fire databases, and oral testimonies. Key results Between 1920 and 1945, forest fires in Poland burned over 220,000 ha, with ~150,000 ha occurring during World War II (1939–1945). From 1946 to 2020, 342,204 fires burned 407,093 ha (annual average: 4562 fires and 5428 ha). Although the fires frequency increased significantly in the 1990s before slightly declining through 2020, total burned area trended downwards. Consequently, average fire size decreased from 7.95 ha to 0.44 ha over the analysed period. Implications These findings provide the first century-long historical baseline for Poland's forest fires, enhancing our broader understanding of fire regimes across Central and Eastern Europe.