A defined forested area performs various functions such as economic, protective and social. Regardless of the level of civilization development and human knowledge, it cannot be stated that humans have full control over the phenomena occurring in forests or their surroundings. Forest hazards, including fire hazards, constitute a direct or indirect factor of human activity that has an effect on nature. Forest fires cause specific losses and generate costs, thus affecting a financial result. The research area of the study is forest fires and losses caused by them, i.e. determining the financial and non-financial effects of fires. The main aim of the study is to present the problem of forest fires in selected European countries, including Poland, and to determine the level of losses caused by them. The research hypothesis is: "Forest fires occurring in European countries, including Poland, cause significant losses in the natural and social environment, which forces organizations to incur costs of implementing measures to protect forest areas against fires". In the case of Poland, the area of interest is public forests managed by the State Forests National Forest Holding. The following research methods were used: critical analysis of the literature, comparative method, desk research, the method of induction and synthesis.In the field of empirical research, the current research results and studies of the Central Statistical Office and the reports of the State Forests were used.