The island's firefighting fraternity has had its best summer for 30 years. There have been no major forest fires this season, partially due to a more careful attitude amongst the public, but mainly due to the fact that rainfall has been higher than normal. In past years trees and brush have been tinder dry by July and August and at great risk of fire particularly from carelessly discarded cigarettes. However, more recent visitors will have noticed how beautifully green the island is, coated with lush healthy pine trees, at the cost of a few extra centimetres of rain.