Half Of Fire Services Missing Basic Wildfire Kit

nuse.

Fire services don’t have the basic equipment, training or resources they need to cope with soaring wildfire numbers, according to FOI requests submitted by the Country Land and Business Association.

The CLA approached 47 fire services in England and Wales. In total, 29 responded. The findings show:

Basic kit missing: Over half (12/22) fire services have no wildfire PPE and a third of stations have zero drones, despite how critical they are in allowing crews to safely track, monitor and tackle blazes.
Record blazes: 77% of councils recorded more wildfires in the first half of 2026 than they did in the entirety of 2024. And in Berkshire and Shropshire, wildfires hit a five-year record in just the first six months of 2026.
Limited training: In Cheshire just 8% of employees are trained to under-take wildfire training, and most of what training exists is done online, not in the field.
Fire engines out of action: Some fire services were unavailable to attend callouts for over a third of the year. And during this summer’s biggest wildfires, nearby stations were unable to provide an available fire engine at record rates.
Lengthy wait times: Nearly half of those who shared data failed to meet their target response time on average in 2025 and 2026, with response times exceeding 21 hours in some instances.

Gavin Lane, CLA President, said:

“We ask firefighters to risk their lives in conditions most of us would not go near. So we should be giving them the equipment, training and support to come back safely. Yet some are being sent into wildfires in heavy kit made for burning buildings, worn for hours across open ground in summer heat. Some have had little more than online training."

“We also need to look beyond our own borders. Places like California and Australia have spent years learning how to fight and prevent large fires. They’ve invested in specialist equipment, training, and a much more proactive approach to managing the land, including through controlled burning. We should be learning from this experience, not acting as though it’s irrelevant to what’s already happening here in Britain."

“Fire services need the people, training and specialist equipment to protect communities. And government must lift the ban on controlled burning, so landowners have the freedom to reduce fuel loads before a blaze becomes a disaster.”

Firefighters being sent to tackle blazes without the right gear

Over half of forces (12/22) have no specialist wildfire PPE, despite repeated warnings from fire services that standard PPE can be too hot and heavy for wildfire conditions. This can cause crews to overheat, or remove PPE altogether, exposing them to greater danger from heat, smoke and radiation.

Access also varies widely from county to county, with Surrey reporting over 800 PPE kits, and Kent and West Yorkshire issuing one set to every firefighter.

Tyne and Wear also have no terrain support vehicles, which are crucial for reaching wildfires in rough or remote areas that standard engines can’t access. Cheshire and Durham have just one, while forces such as Dorset have 29.

Over a third of stations (8/22) also have no drones, despite how important they are in detecting, mapping and monitoring wildfires.

These gaps come as fire services report record wildfires. Nearly 80% (17/22) of fire services recorded more wildfires in first half of 2026 than they did in the entirety of 2024. And in Berkshire and Shropshire, wildfires hit a five-year record in just the first six months of 2026.

In some areas, just 8% of crew are qualified to undertake wildfire operations

Many fire services also lack basic wildfire training. In West Yorkshire, only 15% of operational personnel hold in date training for wildfires. This rises to 40% in Surrey, while in Norfolk, just 33% of officers and 67% of firefighters have in-date training. Where training courses exist, they are typically conducted online, limiting opportunities for firefighters to complete real-world training.

Many services also lack staff who are qualified to undertake, command, or provide tactical advice at wildfires. In Cheshire, just 8.62% of employees are trained to undertake wildfire operations, while in Cleveland just 5 staff (1.2%) are qualified to give tactical advice or command wildfires.

By contrast, 100% of firefighters and officers in Durham, Kent and East Sussex are trained to undertake wildfire operations.

Fire crews are taking nearly an hour to reach blazes

Nearly half of those who shared data failed to meet their target response time on average in 2025 and 2026.

Over 75% of fire crews (13/17) also reported incidents where they took more than 30 minutes to arrive at the scene in 2026. In the worst cases, waits reached 21 hours in Northamptonshire, 81 minutes in Cumbria, 59 minutes in North Yorkshire and 50 minutes in Hereford.

In Berkshire, where wait times for wildfires specifically were provided, just 16% of all wildfires were attended in the target time, with crews taking as long as 43 minutes to arrive at the scene.

Fire services unavailable to attend callouts a third of the year

Crew shortages also mean many fire engines can’t be deployed for large parts of the year.

In Surrey, West Sussex and Cleveland, engines were unavailable to respond to incidents for more than half the year on average, at 67%, 58% and 52% respectively. Across the 29 services who shared data, on-call engines were unavailable for an average of 32% of the year, reducing their ability to respond when fires first break out.

In some areas, individual engines were barely ever available at all. Three Essex engines, at Canvey, Braintree and Dovercourt, spent over 90% of the year unavailable, and in Suffolk and Leicestershire, individual engines were unavailable 100% of the time in July 2026 – when the UK heatwave was at its peak.

And during the country's three biggest wildfires this summer, the fire engines nearby were unable to be deployed at record rates. In Greater Manchester, as a major incident was declared at Dovestone and Saddleworth Moor, on-call engine unavailability jumped to 19.3% in July, compared with under 4% in every other month. At Mossley, next to the fire, the engine was unavailable 26.6% of the month, more than five times its annual average.

And in Dorset, the exact week a major incident was declared over the Holt Heath and Newton Heath wildfires (August 2025), both of Swanage's engines hit their worst availability of the year, one unavailable 95.2% of the month.

The CLA is calling for change

To tackle this issue, the CLA is calling for more funding, resources and equipment for fire services.

In addition, it is urging government to lift the ban on controlled burning, which is a proven method to remove the dead vegetation that can turn small blazes into major incidents. This would help land managers prevent wildfires before they start, removing some of the burden on fire services as temperatures soar.

Categories

Jul 29, 2025

3 min read

In every region except North America, geopolitical instability is seen as the biggest short-term threat to business for the fourth year running, according to the 2025 Oxford-GlobeScan Global Corporate Affairs Survey published today. Three-quarters of senior executives interviewed cite geopolitical risks as their greatest concern, driven by ongoing conflicts in the Middle East and Europe and rising East-West tensions.

The research found, 76% of corporate affairs practitioners ranked geopolitical risk as their top concern, up from 47% five years ago. All regions of the world report this as their top risk, except the US where macroeconomic risks attached to Donald Trump’s return to the presidency and new tariffs are cited as today’s primary risk to businesses

Rupert Younger, Director of the Oxford University Centre for Corporate Reputation and one of the authors of the report commented: ‘It is, perhaps, unsurprising that geopolitics has continued to dominate the corporate affairs agenda in this year’s survey. Corporate affairs professionals operate on the front line on these issues within corporations, being asked to identify emerging risks and develop corporate positioning and engagement approaches that meet the requirement for clarity in often very uncertain environments.’

Chris Coulter, Chief Executive of GlobeScan and one of the authors of the report, added: "What this has meant is that corporate affairs executives have had to address strategic governance questions spanning withdrawal from certain parts of the world to corporate diplomacy. In addition to the focus on geopolitics and macro-economic factors, the other standout finding is that corporate affairs professionals recognise the power inherent in using AI much more strategically across their functions."

Based on the views and insights of 245 senior corporate affairs professionals, the research finds geopolitical risk and uncertainty stand out as the dominant issues in most regions outside of the US. However, the report suggests political populism and social division are now recognised by respondents as ‘established realities’ rather than cited as causes of concern.

"Since 2020, the perception that political populism poses a risk to business had been steadily rising. Interestingly, this concern has grown for business in general but fewer respondents this year view it as a high-level threat to their own organisations," stated the report authors.

In North America, respondents maintain macroeconomics is the greatest risk to business, driven largely by the turmoil from tariffs, with geopolitical concerns close behind. Across all countries surveyed, the research finds macroeconomic disruption is the second most-cited business risk.

According to the report: ‘Political divisions over the role of business and the increased use of tariffs have contributed to macroeconomic volatility becoming the second most-cited risk. Regulatory pressures have also surged, especially in Europe, where standardisation and compliance expectations are tightening. These changes are reshaping the risk landscape across industries and geographies.’

Climate change is cited as the third most-pressing concern in every region, except Asia-Pacific, where respondents express comparatively higher concern about the impact of AI and emerging technologies.

Conversely, AI is seen as one of the ‘greatest opportunities’ for business elsewhere in the world. Respondents reported that, over the next two years, opportunities in AI are seen as emerging in three key areas: leveraging innovation and AI, advancing sustainable growth strategies, and driving economic growth and upliftment.

According to the authors: ‘Corporate affairs practitioners view emerging technologies, particularly AI, as essential for maintaining competitiveness, improving efficiency, and future-proofing operations, although functional usage is still basic and tactical. Sustainable growth strategies have also gained traction, rising in priority across all regions.’

Despite the continuing concerns over climate risk, the research finds changing political agendas have had an impact on attitudes toward the Environment, Social, and Governance agenda.

‘ESG priorities are shifting under political pressure, especially in Western markets. Climate change, diversity and inclusion, and governance still top the ESG agenda, but a split is emerging. Some companies are stepping back from public DEI commitments due to populist backlash, while others are doubling down,’ said the authors.

There appears to be a refocusing of the business agenda. Corporate affairs seems to be refocusing on trust, stakeholder engagement, and reputation strategies. In response to growing uncertainty and political polarisation, the function is reportedly returning to human-centred fundamentals such as direct stakeholder engagement and proactive communication. Corporate affairs teams are increasingly collaborating with senior leaders, especially the CEO and Board, but continue to face challenges in clearly articulating their value to the broader business.

According to Anneke Greyling, Director at GlobeScan, there is a noticeable difference in the ESG landscape if one compares the Global North and Global South: "In regions such as Europe and North America, corporate affairs professionals feel the backlash against ESG far more than in the Global South. In the Global North, corporate affairs professionals are also reporting higher political resistance to ESG. In the Global South, it seems as if the momentum remains positive, and hence commitment levels remain high. ESG is becoming more contested, [but] growing resistance to it is far from universal."

n.

nuse.

Half Of Fire Services Missing Basic Wildfire Kit

nuse.

Most Read

Categories

Most Read

Categories

Recent Posts

Become a digital subscriber and support our publication enabling us to continue to share more news, each and every day.