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Gathering fire leaders from over 60 countries together in a conference centre in central London is not a challenge for the faint hearted, but earlier this month the World Fire Congress did just that. NFCC Chair Phil Garrigan tells me how it went and what difference it will make to the UK.
Phil says that one of the biggest benefits of the Congress is the relationships that have been struck between countries who may never have had that opportunity before. “We’ve made the world a bit smaller and the fire family a bit closer. These are friendships that will endure,” he tells me.
It returns to the adage that it’s better to know people before an incident than meet them for the first time during a crisis. While that’s something I normally hear from UK emergency services, Phil says it’s equally applicable between nations, “that’s the biggest legacy of the World Fire Congress in 2026.”
The Congress homed in on global problems and gave a platform to some deeply personal stories of the impact of disasters on victims and those left behind. As we move towards the 60th anniversary of the Aberfan disaster, the Congress heard from one survivor who was a child at the time. The disaster led to the deaths of 144 people (including 114 children) after a colliery collapsed causing a landslide that engulfed part of the village including houses and the local school.
“I wanted to ensure that global leaders understood, through their actions, the impact they have on survivors, victims and communities.”
The conversation at the Congress shared how different nations from around the world are tackling climate change. “It was one of the primary themes of the two days,” he tells me, with climate-related threads running through the discussions about wildfires, heat and floods. But the Congress also embraced geopolitical matters with discussions around the threats faced by nations – and how the fire and rescue service is prepared for war.
“That was a hugely significant session at the Congress. It went way beyond what I expected, filtering through into conversations in the margins of the event.” But, he cautions: “Don’t underestimate how important the conversation is about the geopolitical situation. We need to prepare ourselves for the risks.”
Sweden’s Peter Arnevall returned to the UK to attend the Congress. Until recently the head of Stockholm Fire Brigade, he is now in a national role focused on resilience. He spoke to me ahead of The Emergency Services Show about what it’s like to have an aggressive neighbour. He told Congress: “We are not at war but we’re not at peace either.” If you are not peace, then you need to prepare for war, he continued, which means citizens as well as the state apparatus.
This brings Phil back to the role of the fire and rescue service. What can it do to support communities to prepare and be resilient – whether that’s for war or the impacts of climate change that see five heatwaves in one summer. “That’s been a crucial part of the conversation over the two days of the Congress.”
It’s not new for Phil to be thinking about resilience. He told the LGA Fire conference back in March that he wanted the proposed College of Fire and Rescue to include resilience in its title and to widen its focus. He says the Congress has strengthened his view and that it was an opportunity to reinforce it with influencers in the room, the policy makers and politicians, to position the fire and rescue service firmly at the heart of the whole of society approach to resilience.
“Who better to prepare communities than an organisation and its firefighters for whom. the public have such a huge amount of trust and respect. to go in and talk to them about risk, mitigation and their role in a crisis.”
With a UK wildfire summit due to take place soon, the preparedness topic will continue to dominate the agenda for fire service leaders. I’m told the Prime Minister is lined up to chair that summit, giving it a profile far greater than a normal fire event.
Phil says it’s a chance to share the concerns voiced by fire chiefs from around the world at the Congress and give a different dimension to the evidence that politicians want to see if they are to commit more funding and resources in this space. “It’s about having the right capability at the right time to deal with events like wildfire and not being behind the curve,” he adds.
Wildfires aren’t new, but the frequency and extent of them are and as Dr Lori Moore-Merrell told me at the Congress when I talked to her about the US experience of wildfires, it’s not acceptable to forget the wildfire experience and impact simply because time moves on and the weather changes. The Congress reinforces this and with the UK summit imminent, it’s unlikely wildfires will be forgotten any time soon.
The World Fire Congress takes place biannually with the next one located in the UAE in 2028.
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