People across England and Wales have received an Emergency Alert on their phones this evening as the Government steps up action over the growing threat posed by wildfires.
The alert, that was sent on a rolling basis from approximately 7pm, warns people not to light anything that could spark a fire, including barbecues, campfires, and fireworks. Recipients are also urged to report any fire immediately by calling 999.
The move comes as firefighters continue to battle the effects of major incidents across parts of the country, following some of the most challenging conditions seen in recent years.
Earlier today, the Prime Minister visited Stourbridge to meet residents affected by wildfire damage and thank firefighters, emergency responders and local resilience partners who have worked around the clock to protect lives and property.
As part of the Government’s action, the Prime Minister announced a package of immediate support for communities and frontline services.
This includes emergency funding for fire and rescue services facing the greatest operational pressures, military assistance in South Wales where around 100 personnel have been immediately deployed to support response and recovery efforts, and a temporary nationwide ban on the sale of disposable barbecues.
A further 100 members of the Armed Forces will deploy this evening.
The extremely hot and dry weather contributed to the spread of a deliberate fire set in Dane Valley Woods this month.
Members of the Dane Valley Woods group are now calling for volunteers to help them put a recovery plan into action following the fire that devastated one acre of the 12 acre site last.
The blaze on August 5 is believed to have been set deliberately. Kent Fire and Rescue Service spent three and a half hours bringing the flames under control.
The damage resulted in a devastating loss of habitat and wildlife but the volunteer group is now setting to work to clear the site of debris and burnt vegetation to prepare the land for new planting.
The group is holding a task day this Sunday from 10am to 1pm. This will only be suitable for adult volunteers, due to the presence of ash. Dust masks will be provided.
Firefighters across Kent and Medway have been called to over 300 grass fires since the start of May, with more than 130 of those incidents in July alone.
Retailers have been informed that disposable barbecues must be removed from sale immediately. The temporary measure will remain under review but will stay in place while the heightened wildfire risk continues.
The Government is also calling on insurers to process claims as quickly as possible for affected households and businesses, ensuring families receive support without unnecessary delay.
For areas hardest hit by wildfire damage, the Bellwin Scheme remains available to help local authorities meet exceptional recovery costs, while ministers stand ready to consider requests swiftly.
Alongside the immediate response, the Government is looking at longer-term resilience. Later this year, ministers will convene a national wildfire summit bringing together fire chiefs, the National Fire Chiefs Council, the Fire Brigades Union and other partners to strengthen future preparedness and consider what additional capabilities may be required to respond to increasingly severe weather events.
The summit will build on the Government’s existing investment in wildfire resilience, including £97 million for fire service training and specialist equipment.
The Secretary of State for Housing, Communities and Local Government has also written to local authorities across England reminding them of the powers available to restrict activities that could increase fire risk, including the use of Public Spaces Protection Orders to limit barbecues, campfires and other forms of open fire in vulnerable areas.
The latest measures follow a meeting of COBR chaired by the Prime Minister earlier this week.
Call for volunteers and donations as Dane Valley Woods group put recovery plan in action following devastating fire
Didnt know i had any alerts allowed on my phone, its common sense. but yes lets send out an alert due to people being idiots
Not on my phone.
I turned them off in “Settings” during the Scademic.
Why?
No, my phone didn’t sound at all.
Just shows it is still working as well as it did in March 2023, when the Tories rolled it out & half the country said they didn’t get them.
Somewhat pointless for this area anyway-we are not really at very high risk of forest fires, floods, terrorist attacks & extreme weather conditions.
Everyone should make sure there settings for things like this to be switched on so really those that turn them off are the idiots
Yes, we can just imagine the mass floods heading towards Thanet, those terrorist attacks-we have had so many of here on our little isle the last 21 years since 7/7 & there are so many huge fires rampaging out of control down here.
Its a shame that it is necessary to inform many people about an obvious situation. The portable barbeque ban needs to be permanent because of morons.
The kind of morons who ignore the obvious are also going to dismiss the phone alerts. Pointless.
with the shortage of water in the country this situation is making it more difficult, why when we are surrounded by water have we not built desalination plants with the sea rising as we keep getting told surely this would solve problems
Do you realise how expensive desalination plants are to build and ,are you willing to have your water bills maybe double, if that’s your choice ok, but a better idea would be build the reservoir that has been debated about since the 1970s ,but no government would give the go ahead,on fear of upsetting a few nimbies ,all the chickens are coming home to roost because of no decisions in the past
They are expensive, yes, but reservoirs can be also. Aside from the location, the immense amount of excavation to route pipes so that the reservoir drawdown can be applied fairly, and not just in the region it lies. To make it worthwhile, they have to be immense; several times the footprint of a desal plant.
The only true solution would be to make non essential use illegal (eg car & window washing, golf courses) , and make household water capture mandatory via water butts for houses, with it plumbed into toilet cisterns, relieving said reservoirs.
Another solution is meters, with excess use punished by fines.
The amount of people (and those in my own family) who don’t care is astonishing. Sadly, it seems that the only way modern consumer will pay attention would be when their taps run dry.
Totally agree with May’s comment.
https://www.gov.uk/alerts/opting-out
Nuclear power stations cost a great deal more to build and run, than conventional power ststions, because they can only be run 24 hours a day, and not raise and lower generation during peak demand times! Also, they have to have more back up plant, and back up back up plant due to access problems when on load, and radiation makes it impossible to maintain them! And so far no one has come up with a sensible idea of how to dispose of radioactive contaminated material, and spent fuel rods, which everyone will have to pay for eventually! But this hasn’t stopped governments funding buclear power, so building desalination plants may be costly, but they could be run using Off Peak power generated at night (by nuclear power!), which is not used, and is much cheaper! (I am a former Central Electricity Generatng Board (CEGB) Engineer! with nucear power station experience my occuaptional pension is paid by Magnox Electric)
The cost will be passed on to the consumer,ergo higher bills ,a reservoir is a cheaper option
The sort of people who start these things are either Pyromaniacs on purpose, or halfwits who can’t be bothered to do their basic duty. One is a mental fetish disorder & the other is being lazy. I don’t see how these alerts stop either-the former have a compulsion to do it & the latter have been warned countless times over the years/decades & still do it regardless.