Preface of the 2nd International Workshop on Extreme Wildfire Events (X-Fire 2026) ^†

1. Conference Overview/Introduction

The 2nd International Workshop on Extreme Wildfire Events (X-Fire 2026) was held on 23–25 June 2026 at the Faculty of Forestry and Wood Sciences, Czech University of Life Sciences Prague, Czech Republic. Organized by COST Action NERO (CA22164), X-Fire serves as a focused international forum for advancing knowledge on extreme wildfire events through the exchange of scientific and operational insights across disciplines including physics, meteorology, fire ecology, numerical modelling, machine learning, and remote sensing. Contributions addressed three themes: modelling of extreme wildfire events; remote sensing and field observations; and drivers, trends, and future projections.

2. Conference Committees

2.1. Organizing Committees

Roman Berčak, Czech University of Life Sciences Prague, Faculty of Forestry and Wood Sciences

Radim Löwe, Czech University of Life Sciences Prague, Faculty of Forestry and Wood Sciences

Adéla Višová, Czech University of Life Sciences Prague, Faculty of Forestry and Wood Sciences

Nikola Řeháková, Czech University of Life Sciences Prague, Faculty of Forestry and Wood Sciences

Marcela Šipanová, Czech University of Life Sciences Prague, Faculty of Forestry and Wood Sciences

Theodore M. Giannaros, National Observatory of Athens, Institute for Environmental Research and Sustainable Development

Akli Benali, University of Lisbon, School of Agriculture

Valentina Bacciu, National Research Council of Italy, Institute of Bioeconomy

Nieves Fernandez Anez, Western Norway University of Applied Sciences, Department of Safety, Chemistry and Biomedical Laboratory Sciences

Georgios Papavasileiou, National Observatory of Athens, Institute for Environmental Research and Sustainable Development

Giacomo Sbaragli, Societa Cooperativa Agricolo Forestale-D.R.E.Am. Italia

Fábio Silva, Greenflame

Núria Prat-Guitart, Fundacio D’Ecologia Del Foc I Gestio D’Incendis Pau Costa Alcubierre

Ljiljana Šerić, University of Split, Faculty of Electrical Engineering, Mechanical Engineering and Naval Architecture

Renata Martins Pacheco, Institute Of Agrifood Research And Technology

2.2. Scientific Committees

Mark Parrington, European Centre for Medium-range Weather Forecasts

Peter Pantya, University of Public Service

Paulo Fernandes, Universidade de Trás-os-Montes e Alto Douro

Rut Domenech, University of California (Davis)

Mario Miguel Valero, Universitat Politècnica de Catalunya

Savvas Gkantonas, University of Cambridge

Fermin Alcasena, Universidad Publica De Navarra

John Runcie, NSW Rural Fire Service

Luis Angel Espinosa Villalpando, Associacao Do Instituto Superior Tecnico Para A Investigacao E Desenvolvimento

Carlos Carrillo, Universitat Autònoma de Barcelona

Diogo Miguel Pinto, Universidade do Porto

Pedro Sanchez, Pau Costa Foundation

Craig Clements, San Jose State University

Jasa Sarazin, Gozdarski Institut Slovenije

Fabian Brännström, University of Wuppertal

Zak Derler, University of Birmingham

Gavriil Xanthopoulos, Hellenic Agricultural Organization “Dimitra”

Pegah Mohammadpour, University of Coimbra

Jan Hora, VSB–Technical University of Ostrava

3. Conference Sessions/Topics/Program

• Modelling of extreme wildfire events;
• Observing extreme wildfire events;
• Drivers, trends, and future projections.

4. Conference Speakers

Simon Schütze, Universidad De Lleida, Nighttime Fire Intensification in the Mediterranean

Nestor Bravo Egea, Universitat Autònoma de Barcelona, A Quantitative Signal for PyroCb Formation based on the Firepower and Pyrocumulonimbus Firepower Threshold

Nikolaos Kamakiotis, Flevo Limited, Integration of Advanced Meteorological Analysis in High-Fidelity Reconstruction of Coastal WUI Wildfires—Pisak 2025

Konstantinos Vogiatzoglou, University of Thessaly, Uncertainty-Aware Physics-Based Wildfire Prediction via Mapped Multi-Fidelity Modeling

Hugo Miguel Pinto Ferreira Velhinho, Instituto Superior de Agronomia da Universidade de Lisboa, Development of a Methodology for Daily Fire Exposure Assessment Based on Stochastic Fire Behaviour Simulations

Renhao Huang, University of New South Wales (UNSW), Deep Learning Wildfire Scenario Modelling: A Case Study for iFire 2.0

Gavriil Xanthopoulos, Hellenic Agricultural Organization “Dimitra”, The Effect of Cold Front Passage on Wildfires: Examples from Greece

Mario Miguel Valero Pérez, Universitat Politècnica de Catalunya, Extreme Fire Behavior Characterization through Airborne Infrared Observation

Georgios Papavasileiou, National Observatory of Athens, Atmospheric Dynamics Associated with the Pyroconvective Wildfires in Canada during the Early 2025 Fire Season

Jakov Bejo, University of Split, Faculty of Electrical Engineering, Mechanical Engineering and Naval Architecture, Image-Based Wildfire Behavior Classification using Convolutional Neural Networks

Jasmina Dobranić, Croatian Meteorological and Hydrological Service, Meteorological Analysis of the 2025 Pisak Wildfire

Selma Zengin Kazancı, Osmaniye Korkut Ata University, Hydro-Atmospheric Drivers of Extreme Wildfire Risk: A Multi-Sensor Analysis Using GNSS PWV, GRACE, and GLDAS

Zsolt Katay, Ex Cal Fire, Incident Command System—Organizational Structure and Elements

Jean-Baptiste Filippi, Université de Corse Pascal Paoli, Operationalizing Coupled Fire-Atmosphere Simulations for Extreme Wildfires: Insights from the EUBURN Programme and SILEX Campaign

Cátia Isabel Nunes Campos, Universidade de Évora, Impact of Increased Resolution on FWI in High-Resolution Meso-NH Simulations

Mahdi Bashiri, Coventry University, Integrated Firefighting Robot–Truck Operations for Wildfire Suppression: A Mathematical Modelling Approach

Luis Angel Espinosa, Associação do Instituto Superior Técnico para a Investigação e Desenvolvimento, Climate-Driven Fire Weather Forecasting for Italy (2007–2024)

Darko Stipaničev, University of Split, Faculty of Electrical Engineering, Mechanical Engineering and Naval Architecture, Canyon-Induced Fire Acceleration and its Integration in Eruptive Fire Early Warning System

Slobodan Milanović, University of Belgrade, Faculty of Forestry, Mapping the Risk of Large Wildfires in Serbia under Climate Change Using Machine Learning

Prashant Singh, Goethe University Frankfurt, Fire Patterns in the Himalaya and their Meteorological Drivers from km-Scale ICON-CLM Simulations

Cinzia Passamani, Università degli Studi di Torino, Vaia, Bark Beetles in the NE Alps are Changing Wildfire Hazard at the Stand and Landscape Scales

Jonathan Eden, Coventry University, Attribution and Future Risk of Extreme Mediterranean Fire Weather

Daan Aerts, Wildflyer B.V., Bridging Science and Operations: An Operational Platform for Fire Weather Intelligence and Open Data Access in Europe

Lucie Kudláčková, Global Change Research Institute, Czech Academy of Sciences, Suppression Difficulty Index for Strategic Wildfire Response Planning: A Case Study from the Křivoklátsko Protected Landscape Area (Czech Republic)

Rafał Porowski, VSB Technical University of Ostrava, Wildfire Hazard for Seveso Installations

Jan Hora, VSB Technical University of Ostrava, Assessment of Fire Risk near Linear Infrastructure: Corridor-Based Evaluation

Venkata Suresh Babu Kukkala, University of Cyprus, Assessing Wildfire Susceptibility Utilizing Geospatial Datasets and Machine Learning Methods

Todor Nickolov Stoyanov, Forest Research Institute at Bulgarian Academy of Sciences, Integrating Scientific Risk Assessment and Policy Instruments in European Wildfire Risk Management: A Multilevel Comparative Perspective

Jaša Saražin, Gozdarski Institut Slovenije, Slovenian Case Study—Wind Impact on 2022 Goriški Kras Wildfire Progression

Zak Derler, University of Birmingham, Global Increases in Anomalous Wildfire Intensity and Regime Volatility

Rafael da Rosa Oliveira, Instituto Superior de Agronomia da Universidade de Lisboa, Understanding Fire Rate of Spread Drivers Using a Machine Learning Approach

Fabian Brännström, University of Wuppertal, Approaching Terminal-Velocity of Large Firebrands for Extreme Fire Events

Bruno Coudour, Institut P’ (CNRS/ENSMA/Université de Poitiers), Drivers of Plant Auto-Ignition

Antonia Bartulović, University of Split, Faculty of Electrical Engineering, Mechanical Engineering and Naval Architecture, Fire Behavior Driver Classification from Geospatial Features

Aurora Matteo, University of Genoa, Challenges in Assessing Fire Weather Changes in a Warming Climate

Farzad Ghasemiazma, University of Genoa, Two-Regime Modeling of Extreme and Common Wildfires in Italy

Ilknur Alpak, Muğla Sıtkı Koçman University, Interpretable ML-Based Wildfire Susceptibility Mapping in a Mediterranean Landscape: The Muğla Case

Tamires Bertocco, Universidade da Coruña, The Protective Role of Lameiros against Recurrent Wildfires in Transboundary Mediterranean Basins

Paula Olivera Prieto, Universitat Politècnica de Catalunya, A Unified Observational Dataset of Extreme Wildfire Events in Europe

Pegah Aflakian, University of Genoa, Event-Based Copula Modeling of Compound Fire-Weather Extremes in a Moderate-Risk Region

Zarmina Zahoor, Coventry University, Emergence of Extreme Wildfire Events across South Asia: Observed Regime Shifts and Future Fire Weather under a Changing Climate

5. Sponsors

This proceedings volume is based upon work from COST Action NERO (CA22164), supported by COST (European Cooperation in Science and Technology). COST (European Cooperation in Science and Technology) is a funding agency for research and innovation networks. Our Actions help connect research initiatives across Europe and enable scientists to grow their ideas by sharing them with their peers. This boosts their research, career and innovation. www.cost.eu