The Fire and Rescue Services Association (FRSA) is deeply concerned by the increasing number and severity of wildfires experienced across the United Kingdom this summer. These incidents are no longer isolated events, their range and severity are a clear indication of the growing impact climate change is having on our communities, our environment and our emergency services.

Climate scientists have consistently warned that hotter, drier summers will increase the frequency, scale and intensity of wildfires. The evidence is now plain to see. Firefighters across the UK are responding to larger, more complex and longer-lasting incidents than ever before, often in extremely challenging terrain and under dangerous conditions.

The reality is that wildfires are fast becoming a routine feature of the British summer. Yet, despite this changing risk profile, many Fire and Rescue Services continue to face significant financial pressures, ageing equipment and increasing demands on already stretched resources.

The FRSA believes that urgent investment is required now to ensure Fire and Rescue Services are equipped, trained and resourced to meet the challenges of the future. Investment is needed in specialist wildfire equipment, enhanced firefighter training, improved resilience capabilities and sufficient staffing levels to enable services to respond safely and effectively to these increasingly complex incidents.

We are particularly concerned by proposals to reduce firefighter numbers in several fire and rescue services in England, including Buckinghamshire, Kent, Warwickshire, Dorset and Wiltshire and Oxfordshire. This is at a time when operational demand is changing and becoming more resource-intensive – reducing frontline firefighter numbers is entirely wrong.

Wildfires can require dozens, and sometimes hundreds, of firefighters to work for several days to bring them under control. They place enormous physical and mental demands on crews, often operating in extreme heat while wearing full protective equipment. Fewer firefighters inevitably mean fewer personnel available to rotate through these prolonged incidents, increasing fatigue, reducing operational resilience and exposing firefighters to greater risks.

A significant proportion of those responding to wildfire incidents are On-Call or part-time firefighters, who leave their primary employment at short notice to protect their communities. The UK’s On-Call workforce is built on the continued goodwill and understanding of employers who release their staff to attend emergency incidents. As wildfires become more frequent and require firefighters to remain at incidents for extended periods, that goodwill is placed under increasing strain. Employers, particularly small and medium-sized businesses, can only absorb so much disruption before it becomes increasingly difficult to support their employees’ firefighting commitments. Without greater investment in resilience and workforce capacity, there is a real risk that the sustainability of the On-Call system will come under increasing pressure, weakening emergency response capability in many rural and semi-rural communities.

The FRSA is calling on the UK and devolved governments, fire authorities and decision-makers to recognise that climate change is fundamentally altering the risks faced by fire and rescue services. Planning for yesterday’s emergencies is no longer sufficient. The sector must be properly funded and supported to prepare for tomorrow’s challenges.

ENDS