The situation with fires, especially in the southern coastal areas, has worsened in recent days. As of July 27, the Ministry of Defense has identified 45 fire outbreaks across the country, of which 21 remain active, 16 are under monitoring, and 8 have been extinguished.

For 2025, the country’s 61 municipalities have received a total of 2.1 billion lek, or about 21 million euros, for fire protection services, through an unconditional transfer from the state budget. Compared to 2024, the fund has increased by 36%.

The municipality receiving the highest allocation for fire protection is Tirana, with around 275 million lek for 2025—an increase of 104% from 2024. Tirana accounts for 13% of the total fire protection fund distributed to municipalities via the unconditional transfer. It is followed by the municipality of Durrës, which received 94.5 million lek—around 63% more than in 2024. Durrës accounts for 5% of the total fund.

Despite the funds allocated to municipalities for fire protection, according to Agron Haxhimali, executive director of the Institute of Albanian Municipalities, the system remains weak and unsupported by modern technology. Haxhimali notes for Monitor magazine that most of the funding goes to salaries, social security, and fuel, while machinery and equipment are depreciated.

“There is a lack of infrastructure on the ground, no aerial fleet, and technology for early fire detection is almost non-existent. The forest service is often neglected, and investments in safety corridors, intervention roads, or water stations are minimal. In this situation, municipalities are overwhelmed and powerless in the face of the risks posed by fires, especially in forested and mountainous areas,” he states.

During 2024, Albania experienced one of its most severe fire seasons, with over 46,000 hectares of forests and pastures burned, according to data from the Institute of Municipalities' report On Local Governance: Report on the Current Situation 2024.

The report highlights that nearly half of the municipalities did not even have management plans for the forests under their administration.

According to the same report, Albania has, on average, fewer than one firefighter per 1,500 inhabitants and fewer than one firefighting vehicle per 10,000 inhabitants. The situation is particularly dire in large municipalities such as Tirana due to population concentration, while many small municipalities, although with more personnel per capita, face infrastructural and territorial challenges that hinder intervention.

Given the limited budget for fire protection and the uneven distribution of resources, the Institute of Albanian Municipalities recommends increasing sectoral transfers for this function.

These recommendations include: increasing funds for modernizing the firefighting vehicle fleet, especially in municipalities with poor infrastructure; financial support for increasing the number of firefighters relative to population and local needs; the creation of a special fire emergency fund that municipalities can access during critical situations etc.