Tunisia Wildfires Expose Weak Infrastructure and Community Fragility

In the village of el-Gol, near the town of Sakiet Sidi Youssef in the mountainous Kef province of northern Tunisia, smoke still shrouded the charred hills days after one of the worst wildfires of the summer hit the area.

Mongi Abdeli, 70, stood outside his scorched farm near the Algerian border, struggling to convey the scale of his loss. The fire killed 10 of his sheep; two more died the next day from smoke inhalation. It also destroyed beehives, more than 100 olive trees, and all the almond trees on his land.

“The flames were consuming everything... and came from every direction,” Abdeli told Al Jazeera. “They kept telling us there was no water to put it out. All they could do was evacuate us.” Some of his sheep escaped to the surrounding hills, but Abdeli said he now has few ways to keep them alive.

“What will we feed them now? Even the price of hay has gone up. Our lives have come to a standstill,” he said. Abdeli has worked this land his entire life to support his family: “For 70 years I have lived on these mountains, relying on myself. I have never asked the state for anything.”

The fire that swept through Abdeli's farm was one of dozens that broke out across Tunisia this summer, as a heatwave pushed temperatures close to 50 degrees Celsius in some areas. The wildfires began in June and peaked in mid-July, and are considered among the most destructive in years. The Civil Defense Force said firefighters responded to nearly 600 fires within 48 hours at the height of the outbreak.

The largest fires erupted in the northern provinces of Kef, Beja, and Bizerte, where mountainous terrain hampered rescue operations, even after military units were deployed to assist firefighters. Lieutenant Colonel Khalil Mechri of the Civil Defense Force described the scale of the fires as “unprecedented” and said they were “among the most intense recorded in Tunisia, both in intensity and in the area destroyed.” He also asserted that human negligence or “criminal acts” caused 95% of the fires.

For families in the region already grappling with years of drought, failed harvests, and rising living costs, the fires were another blow. Mahjoub Chouakhia, who lives near the burned land, said the emergency did not end when the flames were brought under control: “We didn't know the fire would engulf us so quickly. By the time the Civil Defense reached us, everything was gone.” Her family lost animal feed, chickens, and hunting dogs, leaving only a single room for six people.

While the fires were gradually brought under control, soaring temperatures pushed electricity demand to record levels. Chouakhia recounted: “On the day of the fire, we asked for the restoration of electricity and water supplies, but we were refused.” At that time, the state-owned electricity and gas company STEG announced scheduled daily power cuts to prevent the collapse of the aging national grid.

STEG said abnormal electricity demand, driven largely by widespread air conditioning use during the heatwave, pushed the national grid close to its operational limits. The company said controlled outages were introduced to maintain grid stability and prevent nationwide blackouts. Across the country, prolonged power cuts disrupted factories, water pumping stations, and daily life, leaving many without air conditioning, refrigeration, or running water.

Abderrazek, a poultry seller in L’Aouina on the northern outskirts of Tunis, lamented during one outage: “I have lost millions [of dinars] over the past three weeks. Who will compensate me? Everything in this country has collapsed.”

The crisis also highlighted Tunisia's long-term energy challenges. The country generates most of its electricity from natural gas, much of it imported from neighboring Algeria, leaving it increasingly vulnerable to supply disruptions and global price swings. Sahar Mechmech, a political economist at the Tahrir Institute for Middle East Policy, attributed the power cuts to years of underinvestment: “We have seen major power cuts in previous years, so saying this is a surprise is rather astonishing. The problem lies in the supply of electricity and the extent to which Tunisia has invested the necessary resources to maintain energy security.”

Mechmech noted that the country's last major power plant was built in 2019, and STEG's financial crisis has limited grid expansion and maintenance. Parliamentarian Maher Kettari said during a Finance Committee hearing that the government owes the electricity company nearly 3.5 billion dinars (about $1 million) in unpaid energy subsidies.

President Kais Saied called the power and water cuts “unacceptable” during a meeting with senior ministers and the heads of electricity, water, and Civil Defense agencies. He ordered the swift restoration of services and instructed authorities to ensure advance notice to citizens whenever supplies need to be halted. The response may be linked to timing: the crisis came days before the fifth anniversary of Saied's power grab (July 25), when he dismissed the prime minister, suspended parliament, and ruled by decree. The electricity and water crisis has intensified scrutiny of the state's ability to deliver essential services during emergencies under the president.

While authorities deployed firefighters and rescue teams across the country, residents interviewed by Al Jazeera said they often had to rely on neighbors as first responders when flames approached their homes. For Tunisians, the fires are a reminder of the fragility of many communities as heatwaves become longer and more intense. Khatma, a resident, shared: “I don't ask for much. My life is behind me. But what I hope is that my grandchildren live in comfort with the basic means to survive.”