Agenda item

The Chief Fire Officer (CFO) presented the report to members.

Lancashire Fire and Rescue Services (LFRSs) Climate Change Operational Response Plan (CCORP) was published in 2022 and spanned 5 years to 2027 in line with the services Community Risk Management Plan (CRMP). It provided an overview of LFRSs intentions to strengthen the provision of services to communities in response to the impacts of climate change.

The report provided the Authority with a mid-point review of progress against the aspirations contained within the CCORP across the key themes.

As the extremes of foreseeable weather events became increasingly evident, LFRSs CCORP considered flooding and wildfire as two separate areas of focus, whilst recognising that several of the proposed actions LFRS would take, would serve to mitigate elements of both risks in tandem.

In delivering against this plan, LFRS continued to aim to:

• Reduce the threat posed to citizens of Lancashire.
• Improve firefighter safety.
• Reduce costs and impact upon our communities, partners and the Service.

The CCORP was developed around 6 key principles:

• Working in partnership with other agencies and/or private bodies to make our communities safer.
• Delivering prevention activities serves to educate and inform and thereby reduce potential risks.
• Empowering communities to play their part can increase local resilience and assist planning and response.
• Utilising operational debriefing and learning supports continuous improvement in the delivery of our services.                                                                                                                      
• Working to support local, regional, and national policy design through learning and sharing areas of best practice.
• Responding effectively when required, with the right vehicles, trained staff, best equipment, and operational tactics.

The overarching aim was to strengthen the services plans in relation to risks posed by both Flooding and Wildfires across the key areas of:

• Prevention, protection and education
• Emergency Planning
• Training
• Operational Response
• Personal Protective Equipment
• Welfare

The CCORP 2022/2027 was a comprehensive and ambitious document that demonstrated LFRS's commitment and leadership in adapting to and mitigating effects of climate change both locally and nationally.

LFRS’s progress against the CCORP included;

Prevention, protection and education

• Implementation of Public Space Protection Orders (PSPO’s) in collaboration with local authorities and Lancashire Constabulary. This restricted the use of barbecues and open fires in high-risk areas, such as moorlands and woodlands, to prevent wildfires. PSPO’s were launched with partners on 4 March 2024. Breach of a PSPO was a criminal offence and could result in a fine of up to £1000. PSPO’s were a tool that could be used by LFRS and its partners to reduce wildfire risk within Lancashire.

• Established a Lancashire Water Safety Partnership (LWSP) which was officially launched in April 2023 and was chaired by LFRS officers. LWSP had identified high risk locations for the installation of water safety boards including at nearby Cuerden Valley Park and was scoping the potential for use of PSPO’s for two high risk water sites in Lancashire.

• Properties within urban interface areas with wildfire risk had been identified and Fire Protection and Community Fire Safety Teams would work together to deliver appropriate advice. LFRS would deliver targeted Home Fire Safety Checks (HFSC) in domestic premises for known wildfire risk areas. 

Emergency planning

• Collaborated and shared best practice with other fire and rescue services, local authorities, and partner organisations, through networks, forums, and working groups, such as the National Fire Chiefs Council (NFCC) Climate Change Coordination Committee, the Lancashire Resilience Forum (LRF) Climate Change Group, the Northwest Fire and Rescue Services (NWFRS) Climate Change Network and NW Region Wildfire Group chaired by Group Manager (GM) Caroline Harrison.

• LFRS’s National Wildfire Tactical Advisors were signed up to the UK Danger Rating System and receive updates on forecasted impacts to the Service.

Training

• Increased its cohort of level 5 trained Flood Water Incident Managers (FWIM’s), from 6 to 8 to provide additional resilience across the Service.

• Trained an additional Level 4 Wildfire Tactical Advisor, enhancing the services capability to respond both within Lancashire and nationally.

Operational response

• Two Hagglund offroad vehicles had been introduced into Service. They had undergone additional modifications for use at both flooding and wildfires.

• Invested in rescue sleds and floatation devices for the Hagglund vehicles.  These were successfully used to rescue people stranded in their vehicles during recent flooding in December 2024.

• LFRS had developed and trained staff to provide an additional water rescue pump and swift water rescue team in Morecambe to supplement the existing team at Lancaster. This unit went live in January 2025.

• Contributed towards the NFCC Asset register and maintained the Lancashire Fire Operations Group (LFOG) Asset register.

• Work continued to procure two large and two smaller 4x4 fire engines with off-road capabilities. One of each size would be purchased in the coming year with the other two following in the next business year.

Personal protective equipment (PPE)

• Dedicated Wildfire PPE and protective footwear had been rolled out to all operational staff. In addition, tactical backpacks had been issued to all operational staff to increase welfare provision at incidents.

• LFRS had reviewed national guidance regarding the use of personal flotation devices for evacuees during flooding incidents. This had led to lifejackets being made available on Hagglunds for use by members of public during flooding incidents.

Welfare

• Enhanced welfare provisions at incidents, improved quality and met the needs of a diverse workforce with vegan, vegetarian, halal, kosher options amongst others. 

The CFO summarised that the Service had delivered extensive progress to date and continued work to deliver against the remaining activities in the plan, which underpinned the ambitions within the Service CRMP and underpinned LFRS aim of making Lancashire safer.

In response to a question from County Councillor J Shedwick in relation to LFRS representatives attending local flood action groups, the CFO confirmed that Station Managers should be available to attend and support the groups.

In response to a question from Councillor M Desai in relation to the use of PSPOs and reporting mechanisms, the CFO confirmed that LFRS would exercise its PSPO powers during periods of increased climatic risk and would use the Lancashire Resilience Forum (LRF) chaired by the Deputy Chief Fire Officer (DCFO) to alert partner agencies. The CFO advised that there was high interest globally with recent wildfires in California and Australia, and although the same devastation was not evident here in the UK and locally in Lancashire, wildfire was identified as one of the Service key risks, during analysis conducted under the Strategic Assessment of Risk. In terms of reporting, information could be found on the LFRS website. The CFO added that further to investment made by the Authority, LFRS operational response had improved with the introduction of the Hagglund offroad vehicles which often allowed wildfires to be contained to a much smaller area and managed more effectively with a reduced draw on resources.

Councillor M Desai asked a further question in relation to partnership working and the potential for further collaboration with local councils to prevent duplication of approach across the agencies. The CFO confirmed that partnership working was coordinated through Lancashire Fire Operations Group (LFOG) and the Lancashire Resilience Forum (LRF) with all partner agencies very supportive. The DCFO added that the LRF carried out planning around risks within Lancashire and had a Lancashire risk register which fed into a national risk register with information from this passed onto councils and other partner agencies. The DCFO confirmed that he was happy to discuss this further outside of the meeting.

The Chair remarked that she was proud of LFRS and the equipment and resources that had been introduced throughout the Service.

Resolved: - That the Authority noted the progress delivered as detailed within the report.