Summer wildfi res a climate wake-up call, says fi re union chief

A “horrible complacency” about the impact of the climate crisis on the fire service has left it under funded and ill-prepared, the general secretary of the Fire Brigade s Union has warned.

- Alexandra Topping

Matt Wrack said firefighters were at the sharp end of tackling the impact of climate change and warned that this summer’s wildfires had to act as a “wake-up call” to the government to engage with those on the frontline.

As he travels the country urging firefighters to vote for strike action over a proposed 2% pay increase in just over a month’s time, Wrack said the fire service had faced “historic cuts” under a Conservative government which had left it less resilient.

“If the wildfires we saw this summer do not act as a wake-up call, that is quite shocking,” he said. “Climate change is a long-term threat and the fire service needs to prepare for it … [The FBU] could play a much bigger role and we would be interested in discussing that with the government, but it’s very hard to do when all they’re doing is slashing funding.”

Guardian analysis of publicly available data shows total firefighter headcount across 46 English fire authorities has fallen 20.4% since 2010, with 35,279 in 2021 compared with 44,307 in 2010, accounting for full-time and on-call firefighters.