Agenda item

The report provided Members with information relating to operational incidents of note over the period 1 February 2022 – 31 March 2022.

County Councillor Shedwick expressed gratitude to staff who attended the incident in Fleetwood, as detailed on page 80 of the agenda pack. 

County Councillor Mirfin also expressed gratitude to staff who attended the incident in Whalley, as detailed on page 81 of the agenda pack.  He requested whether a report could be presented to committee which looked at lessons learned from fires in terraced houses (particularly those that started in shared roof spaces where the property occupier was a known hoarder who may potentially be suffering from mental health problems) and for the report to include the potential risk to neighbouring properties.  In response, County Councillor Iddon, as Chairman of the Performance Committee agreed to consider this. The Assistant Chief Fire Officer advised that he would be happy to provide information in due course, but the incident referred to was currently subject to coroner proceedings and therefore it was important not to undermine or conflict with those legal proceedings.  He confirmed that all significant incidents were subject to a full debrief and through that process the Service determined any learning for operational response, community safety activity and any interactions with partners, all of which were followed up post-incident.

County Councillor Mirfin congratulated staff for their rapid response time to an incident in Sawley, which was a difficult location to get to in the countryside (as detailed on page 82 of the agenda pack).

The Assistant Chief Fire Officer introduced Group Manager Liam Wilson who provided a short presentation on a wildfire incident in Rossendale (as detailed on page 83 of the agenda pack). The incident response demonstrated why the Authority’s support for and investment in climate change response was important to the ongoing organisational evolution and success in dealing with some of the emerging risks around flooding and wildfire response.

Group Manager Wilson, tactical advisor for LFRS and national wildfire tactical advisor advised that the aim of the presentation was to provide an overview of the launch of the Climate Change Operational Response Plan and the benefits that the Authority’s investment in new capabilities had had in supporting the swift and safe resolution of a recently attended wildfire incident. 

GM Wilson advised that in 2021, the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change suggested that continued global warming was projected to further intensify the global water cycle, including its variability, precipitation, and the severity of wet and dry periods.  LFRS incident data from the last 10 years showed an increasing trend relating to flooding and wildfire events. The figures provided in the presentation identified that the Service had attended 838 flooding incidents and 350 wildfire related incidents over the last 3 years, each of which had a clear risk of impacting on local communities and placed significant resource demands upon the fire service and its partners. 

LFRS’ strategic assessment of risk identified the increasing impacts and consequences of climate change in terms of both prevalence and the duration of large-scale flooding and wildfire events within the county.  In response to this increased risk, LFRS had recently published a Climate Change Operational Response Plan to be delivered over the next 5 years. The Plan looked to reduce the risk to communities by planning and delivering a range of Prevention, Protection and Operational Response aspirations relating to flooding and wildfire incidents.  A brief video on the Plan was presented.  As part of the Plan, investment had been made in the provision of two Hagglund all?terrain vehicles for use in both flooding and wildfire environments and the Service looked to continually learn from experience. Post-incident and training exercise debriefs were held to identify opportunities for improvement to practices, policies and equipment. An example of this was that operational staff had already been issued with flood suits and had recently been provided with dedicated wildfire PPE.

GM Wilson presented to Members an incident in Scout Moor, Rossendale which he had attended as tactical advisor.  The initial time of call was 14:43 into North West Fire Control who mobilised: 4 fire appliances 1 Hagglund vehicle, the Burn Team, an Argo cat from West Yorkshire Fire and Rescue Service and 2 tactical advisors.  At the time the weather was warm, dry and sunny with a very strong easterly wind.  Due to conditions the officer in charge sent an assistance message to increase the fire appliances to 8 pumps; the initial 4 appliances, Hagglund, Argo cat and Burn Team engaged in wildfire fighting operations and the additional 4 undertook defensive firefighting operations given the local proximity to a farm house and forestry plantation. 

The duration of the incident was just over 4 hours.  The damage to the moorland was approximately 1.5 square kilometres.  Historically, similar incidents had involved at least 10 pumping appliances engaged in active firefighting operations with additional resources involved for defensive operations at nearby properties and plantations.  Incident data also suggested that resources were often engaged at such incidents for period of up to 36-48 hours in a similar area.  The use of the Hagglund and burn team had a very positive impact on the success of the firefighting operations during this incident with less fire spread resulting in far less environmental damage, less impact on the local community and less demand on Service resources.

In response to a question raised by County Councillor Hennessy GM Wilson confirmed that the Burn Team was a crew of 14 firefighters based in Bacup.  This was a very effective method (from a toolbox of methods) used to extinguish a fire. 

County Councillor Mein asked for an explanation of the term ‘tactical burn’.  In response, GM Wilson confirmed that once deployed the Burn Team would undertake reconnaissance, put a risk assessment in place and, to ensure the fire would not get out of control (for example where it was burning towards properties or forestry plantations) the Burn Team would apply fire to the ground (referred to as a tactical burn) to put a control line across the moorland or reinforce a path or road with the aim of preventing the fire from developing further.

In response to a question raised by Councillor Williams, GM Wilson advised that the Service, in partnership with Lancashire Police rural task force was engaged in the undertaking of investigations into the causes of wildfires and there were a significant number caused by deliberate ignition from antisocial behaviour or old agricultural practices. 

County Councillor Shedwick stated that wildfires could happen in a very short period of dry weather.  He was pleased to see the positive impact of the Hagglund vehicle and suggested it would be beneficial for new Members to receive a demonstration of the burns team.

In response to a question raised by County Councillor Morris regarding how the Hagglund vehicle was transported, GM Wilson confirmed that it was pre-loaded on a small low-loader type vehicle for immediate response as required.

Councillor Williams commented on the complexity of incidents dealt with by the Service.  He felt there should be a judicial strategy in relation to the level of sentences applied for arson convictions, which included those for the deliberate setting of wildfires, as the sentences handed down were so varied. 

County Councillor Singleton queried whether there was a public space protection order in relation to disposable barbeques.  In response GM Wilson advised that within climate change operational plan, one of the aspirations for the prevention strategy formed an introduction of public space protection orders (such as the one in existence for the sand dunes in Blackpool).  Partnership work was ongoing to scope out the potential for implementing public space protection orders on Darwen Moor, Anglezarke and Winter Hill.

In response to a question from County Councillor Hennessy the Chief Fire Officer confirmed that the use of disposable barbeques was discouraged and there had been some success nationally with some supermarkets no longer stocking them.  The challenge was that people rarely thought about what to do with them when they had finished their barbeque and people were unlikely to take them away as they were still warm; which was unfortunately probably the cause of most of the wildfires.

RESOLVED: - That the Authority noted and endorsed the report.