Fire heads have warned of the UK for the impact of climate collapse, as they called on the government to take urgent measures to protect societies.
The NFCC National Council (NFCC) said that the ability of firefighting services to address emergency situations related to weather was in danger, although they often responded the front lines of the main air events including floods, fires from heat waves, and related emergency situations With storms, all of which have become more common.
The organization, which represents the heads of fire and rescue services throughout the United Kingdom, called for more investment and access to a long -term prediction to enable them to maintain the response to these incidents.
NFCC said that fire and rescue workers are increasingly forced to go “above.” Storm Babit In October 2023, when more than 1,000 homes were immersed and three people died, to Darraj StormThat killed two people in December last year. January brought Éowyn stormThe records that caused great damage, especially in Scotland, Northern Ireland and Ireland.
MET office predicts that 2070 Winters will be warmer by 4.5C and 30 % more moisture than in 1990, while summer may reach 6C warmer and 60 % more dry.
South England is expected to test temperatures of up to 40 ° C (104F) and the rains are expected to increase by a quarter.
“Watching the damage caused by forest fires in Los Angeles and the number of recent floods we saw in the United Kingdom, it is impossible not to worry about the real and immediate threat that climate change puts on our planet and what this means.” The President of NFCC, Mark Hardenhham said to our societies in the future. “
“Fire and rescue services on the confrontation line to respond to harsh weather events and see firefighters, supervisory employees and other emergency service partners who go over and over to protect their societies. But we see the risks related to increasing harsh weather, and without sufficient investment and other procedures from the government, our ability to maintain safety Societies and the protection of infrastructure are in danger.
In addition to responding to emergency situations, fire sets are a major part of local flexibility forums, multi -agent partnerships consisting of representatives of local public services, including emergency services, local authorities, NHS, the Environmental Agency and others.
These groups – which are 38 in England and four in Wales, with Scotland and Northern Ireland have a different but similar system – help in planning, preparing and recovering from emergency situations.
“Fire and rescue services are part of the local flexibility forums and work cooperatively with partners to plan harsh air events and respond to them,” said Ben Brock, the chief firefighter in Warwikchire, NFCC in the environment and climate change.
“However, we are concerned that fire and rescue services and local flexibility forums cannot reach the mechanisms of delicate data analysis and experience to use this for prediction model Its role is related to the flexibility of climate change.
NFCC called for a review of the 2004 civil emergency law and/or the framework of the flexibility of the UK government, both of which dealt with national emergency planning and its prevention, to reflect the threat posed by the climate crisis.
In 2022, firefighters in London faced their most crowded days since World War II as a result of a heat wave, announcing a major incident in addition to the services of the Leicester and South Yorkshire, which also fought fires as a result of lengthy dry weather during the month of July. That year, 983 fires were recorded in England and Wales, an increase of 315 % from 2021 and 573 % compared to 2020.
