In recent years, the number of fires and the size of the areas destroyed in our country, in Europe and in the world have reached proportions that cannot be compared with those of previous years. It has been found that 95% of all forest fires in the last 30 years have been caused by human activity – carelessness, cleaning and burning of waste, burning of stubble, uncontrolled dumping of waste near forest areas, discarding of cigarette butts, deliberate arson, clearing of pastures and agricultural land, lighting of fires by tourists, etc. Climate change also plays an important role in the occurrence of fires. They have become a European and global problem. Although mainly the Mediterranean countries are affected, large fires have been observed in the Czech Republic, Bulgaria, Germany, Slovenia and many other places in the European Union (EU). Most EU Member States have reported above-average numbers of burnt areas. The risk of forest fires has spread to areas that were previously not at risk and extends far beyond the Mediterranean region. This leads to enormous social, ecological, climatic and economic losses throughout Europe. The risk of forest fires is expected to increase further due to climate change and socio-economic development. Better coordination, communication and coherence of fire prevention and control measures between the various institutions at national, European and global level is a positive step towards reducing the number of fires and limiting their consequences.