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Wildfire incidents in England and Wales have already surpassed the 500 mark this year, new data shows.
With heatwaves anticipated across the UK in the coming days, the National Fire Chiefs Council (NFCC) is urging caution amongst members of the public when enjoying the outdoors in a bid to prevent further spikes in incidents. As the drier weather continues and temperatures rise, there are also concerns that the UK will see more wildfires in areas where homes and businesses border rural areas. The public is also being urged to take care when in, on or around water, with research showing an association between higher air temperatures and an increased risk of drowning.
National Resilience data shows that, as of 19 June, 564 wildfire incidents have been responded to by English and Welsh fire and rescue services so far this year. This is a 717% increase on the same period in 2024 (69) and over double the number seen in 2022 (277) which went on to be the worst year on record for wildfires.
This comes after the Spending Review failed to mention funding for fire and rescue services. Fire and rescue services do not receive protected funding for tackling wildfires, this role falls under their general duties to extinguish fires and must be resourced from core budgets – which are already significantly stretched.
“We are deeply concerned about the escalating threat of wildfires this summer, which have the potential to become more frequent, intense, and dangerous — particularly in areas where communities border the countryside.
“Fire and rescue services are already under significant pressure, having responded to hundreds of wildfires this year alone. We are incredibly proud of the unwavering commitment and preparedness of our fire and rescue services. However, wildfires are no longer rare or isolated incidents — they are a growing national risk that require a national-level response. Without more adequate and sustained funding, fire and rescue services will continue to be stretched to the limit.”
Phil Garrigan, National Fire Chiefs Council (NFCC) Chair
Most wildfires in the UK are caused by human activity, some accidental and some deliberate. NFCC are amplifying public safety advice, which includes avoiding the use of disposable barbecues in open countryside, parks, and moorland areas and not discarding cigarettes, matches, or glass bottles, as they can ignite dry vegetation.
With summer expected to bring rising temperatures and a continued period of dry weather, it is anticipated that wildfires will increase in the rural urban interface – where land covered in vegetation is in close proximity to buildings, including people’s homes. Fires in these locations pose a greater risk to people as the fire spreads between the nearby vegetation and buildings.
With drier conditions during this time of year meaning that fires can burn into peat, and can burn for longer, it is likely some fires will take a number of days – rather than hours – to extinguish, causing more damage and placing further pressure on fire and rescue services.
NFCC also said that whilst fire and rescue services remain on high readiness to respond to incidents across the country, responding to these incidents requires a significant amount of resources, often over prolonged periods of time – making the maintenance of normal 999 response coverage extremely difficult.
Across 18 and 19 July 2022, the hottest days of that year, 84 wildfires were recorded, and 14 fire and rescue services declared major incidents, 9 of which were linked to difficulties in responding due to the increase in operational demand. Meanwhile control rooms experienced a 500% increase in 999 calls.
We recently spoke to Phil Garrigan about his role as NFCC chief on our For Every Response podcast. You can read an accompanying article here.