Towards Resilient Critical Infrastructure in the Face of Extreme Wildfire Events: Lessons and Policy Pathways from the US and EU

Escalating extreme wildfires, fueled by the confluence of climate change, land use patterns alterations, ignitions by humans, and flammable fuels accumulation, pose significant and increasingly destructive risks to critical infrastructure (CI). This study presents a comprehensive comparative analysis of wildfire impacts and the corresponding CI resilience strategies employed across the EU and the US. It examines the vulnerability of CIs to the devastating effects of wildfires and their inadvertent contribution to wildfire ignition and spread. The study evaluates the EU’s CER Directive and the US National Infrastructure Protection Plan and assesses European Commission wildfire resilience-related initiatives, including FIRELOGUE, FIRE-RES, SILVANUS, and TREEADS flagship projects. It synthesizes empirical evidence and extracts key lessons learned from major wildfire events in the EU (2017 Portuguese fires; 2018 Mati wildfire) and the US (2023 Lahaina disaster; 2025 Los Angeles fires), drawing insights regarding the effectiveness of various resilience measures and identifying areas for improvement. Persistent challenges impeding effective wildfire resilience are identified, including governance fragmentation, lack of standardization in risk assessment and mitigation protocols, and insufficient integration of scientific knowledge and data into policy formulation and implementation. It concludes with actionable recommendations aimed at fostering science-based, multi-stakeholder approaches to strengthen wildfire resilience at both policy and operational levels.