Agenda item

The report was produced in response to a Member request and summarised special service incidents related to flooding incidents recorded by Lancashire Fire and Rescue Service (LFRS), between 1 April 2014 and 31 March 2025. The Analysis covered flooding due to surface water, rising river levels, high tide, or reservoir, and the recorded causes (heavy rainfall, obstruction/blockage, structural failure). Incidents involving burst pipes etc., were excluded. Fiscal years were used to align with seasonal effects and included the most recent 2025 data.

Area Manager, Phil Jones explained that there had been 881 flood related incidents over the ten-year period. Activity peaked in 2015/16 due to storm Desmond and Eva, both of which occurred in December 2015, with activity generally trending downward since then. The most recent year recorded 67 incidents, equating to 74.1% fewer incidents than the 259 recorded in 2015/16, and 31.5% fewer incidents than the ten-year average.

Over the first half of the analysis period, activity typically followed an alternating peak and through pattern, however, activity over the most recent 2 years had been static.

Overall, the winter months accounted for 41.7%, autumn 31.1%, summer 24.1%, with the lowest activity months being the spring season at 3.2%. However, incidents occurred most frequently in the individual months of December (26.1%) and November (18.8%), which combined, accounted for 44.9% of activity.

Whilst the source of a flooding incident may be due to surface water for example, the actual cause of the incident may be due to an event such as heavy rainfall, obstruction or blockage, or structural failure. For instance, the large-scale flooding seen in the village of St Michaels on Wyre during Storm Desmond in December 2015 was due to rising river levels and a structural failure i.e. embankment. Structural failure was a relatively rare event and accounted for just 1.1% of the 881 incidents. Overall, heavy rainfall accounted for 90.60% of the causes, with an obstruction or blockage accounting for just 7.5%. An obstruction or blockage could be caused by drainage issues (blocked roadside drains, culvert etc).

Over the last 10-year period, Lancaster district accounted for the largest number of flooding incidents, recording 190 (21.6% of the total). This was quite distantly followed by West Lancashire with 90 (10.2%) and 87 occurring in Wyre (9.9%). The top four districts Lancaster, West Lancashire, Wyre, and Rossendale accounted for almost 50% of the incidents. Lancaster districts accounted for the largest amount of surface water, rising river levels, and high tide incidents. The high tide incidents were mainly around the Glasson Docks area. There were five reservoir incidents within Chorley district which were from the area north of Anglezarke reservoir.

There were large variations of activity with each district between the years. Lancaster recorded almost 50% (93 incidents) of its activity in 2015/16, with another peak in 2017/18 accounting for an additional 32%. All districts but three had a decreasing trend, with only Blackburn with Darwen, Chorley, and Fylde recording a small increasing trend. During the most recent year, only West Lancashire had recorded a notably greater number of incidents with 17. These were almost exclusively heavy rainfall related.

Flooding events could quickly affect many properties over a wide area and in certain circumstances, spate conditions were declared. These conditions were when many calls were received simultaneously for incidents not at the same address. This meant that affected property counts could be recorded as estimates, or there was a single record for the original location/property, but the actual number affected was far greater. This could involve a large number of properties in which the counts were only captured within free text narrative. However, overall, there had been 8,708 recorded properties affected by flood water entry. This included three separate incidents in 2017/18 in which a count of 500 properties at each incident were recorded.

Spate conditions would affect the recording of casualties, rescues, and evacuations, as these could sometimes be estimates, especially when large numbers of people were not directly evacuated by the Fire Service. There was an incident type which might be used as an alternate to, but related to flooding, such as a rescue or evacuation from water. These were where people had been rescued/assisted by the Fire Service from a vehicle or a location/property surrounded by water. An example would be when a vehicle had entered floodwater and become stranded. Over the ten-year period, there had been 115 such rescues/evacuations. There was a tragic incident in the previous year in the Pendle District when a car became stuck in a ford and the individual died, sadly. Safety messages were distributed through the Communications department as soon as flood warnings were released.

In response to a question from the Chair in relation to the volume of surface water floods related to blocked gullies, Area Manager, Phil Jones explained that leaves could cause drain blockages which had a negative impact on the amount of surface water in wet conditions, however, Local Authorities were responding quickly to clear culverts.

County Councillor Tetlow asked why Lancaster had experienced significantly more floods than other areas. Area Manager, Phil Jones advised that, over the past 10 years, Storms Desmond and Eva had occurred which had flooded Lancaster City Centre which was close to the River Lune. Area Manager, Matt Hamer added that one of the key issues in the north of the county was that during rainfall, it bore the consequence of the water overflow from Cumbria which then had a negative impact on water levels when it met the River Lune. Links through the Community Safety Partnership helped with preventative methods when heavy rainfall was expected. The DCFO explained the brunt of the responsibility for flood defence was with the Environment Agency which was investing heavily in flood control. Climate change and developments on flood plains could also have increased flood risk.

The ACFO explained that, thanks to North West Fire Control (NWFC) that also covered Cumbria & Cheshire, LFRS was informed when river levels were rising. Notifications around severe weather enabled the Service to send pre-emptive warning and informing messages for Lancashire residents, and in some cases, evacuations from homes. Area Manager, Phil Jones added that the assistance provided to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs (DEFRA) by providing boats etc. was at its own cost as there was no statutory requirement.

Area Manager, Matt Hamer explained that the Service worked with Planning Departments on applications for new developments as every house built prevented approx. 100,000 litres of water from being soaked up by soil. As the population of Lancashire grew, it was possible that the amount of surface water would increase.

The Chair queried and Area Manager, Phil Jones replied that, outside of Lancaster, West Lancashire had seen the largest increase in flood related incidents in the past 10 years. The DCFO highlighted the map on Page 87 of the agenda pack which displayed the largest areas of flooding which were Lancaster (River Lune in the red and yellow area), and West Lancashire. Area Manager, Phil Jones advised that through the Local Resilience Forum (LRF) and the Environment Agency (EA), each district had a flood plan and locally, the Service had a Climate Change Operation Response Plan (CCORP) which included a number of rapid catchment areas where flooding was likely. Station Managers, Groups Managers, and the Fire Safety Manager in the Protection department had preventative response plans that they would implement in the event of an Amber Flood Warning.

County Councillor M Clifford stated that he was the Director of Cuerden Valley Park which housed a Victorian reservoir and asked for further information on the structural failing of a reservoir in the chart of Page 83 of the agenda pack. Area Manager Phil Jones advised that there were 5 reservoir incidents in Chorley and 1 in Blackpool, however he was not aware of any significant flooding incidents caused by the structural failing of a reservoir. He added that he would gather and provide the information to the Member outside of the meeting. The DCFO explained that LFRS did not have legislative responsibility for reservoirs as it was placed with the Local Authority and EA. He advised that reservoir failure was high on the LRF risk register within the county.

County Councillor A Riggott referenced a flooding incident in Chorley where the West Coast Mainline was impassable with water and asked who had the responsibility to close the roads in those instances and how that was managed. Area Manager, Phil Jones confirmed that, under the Fire and Rescue Act, LFRS could legally close roads and redirect traffic when they were in attendance at an incident until the Local Authority Highways arrived to block roads.

County Councillor G Mirfin commented that the report was excellent and should be promoted to the public and press as it contained many important messages. In particular the report highlighted the ‘Rescue’ aspect of the Service. When in London lobbying the Fire Minister, Members also raised the need for DEFRA and the EA to provide Fire and Rescue Services with funding in recognition of the work they conduct on their behalf. In terms of flooding data, he stated that it may be useful to conduct a re-map of data to show how many properties were affected by flood per district. Despite the fact that the Ribble Valley had fewer properties and was not as densely populated as other areas in Lancashire, the last two major flood impacted 175 properties which was significant.

Area Manager, Phil Jones advised that Flood Groups seemed to end during the Covid-19 pandemic, and it was important that they were reinstated where possible as the public could prepare for floods in advance. LFRS were happy to be involved with Flood Groups. The ACFO added that when recruiting for On-Call firefighters, Fire Stations worked with local Flood Groups to recruit flood volunteers who were likely to be deployed in harsh weather conditions to protect vulnerable properties. County Councillor A Riggott suggested that information about Flood Groups and how they work be circulated to new Members.

Resolved :- That the Performance Committee noted the analysis of flood-related demand and the continued importance of effective planning, preparedness, and response to severe weather events impacting on communities.