Swarms of firefighting drones could one day be deployed to tackle hugely destructive megafires that are becoming increasingly frequent in the Mediterranean region because of climate change, arson and poor landscape management. It's one of a number of initiatives looking at how best to fight large fires from the air – a challenge that's becoming more and more common. A 2017 report on forest fires by the EU's Joint Research Centre said that the year would'likely be remembered as one of the most devastating wildfire seasons in Europe since records began', after the destruction of nearly 700,000 hectares of land in the EU by early September. Such fires are dangerous not only for people who live in the area but also for the crews of people whose job it is to put the fires out. But using intelligent robots to scout the area and drop water can allow humans to stand further back from the danger zone, only looking at the drones' data to make decisions from the safety of a command and control centre.