Is the London Fire Brigade equipped to deal with extreme heatwaves?

Last month, the London Fire Brigade (LFB) declared a major incident during an extreme heatwave which led to hundreds of fires across London.

July 19 was its busiest day since World War II, with 2,670 calls taken in one day. More than 40 houses were destroyed by grass fires.

The London Fire Commissioner is required to publish a plan that sets out how to improve public safety, reduce the number of emergency incidents, and save lives.

To achieve this, the LFB has been engaging with Londoners to create the draft Community Risk Management Plan (CRMP) - a strategy and delivery plan for 2023-29.

The London Assembly Fire, Resilience and Emergency Planning Committee has statutory powers to review, make recommendations on, and approve the final plan before it is published.

The Committee has today published 19 recommendations on the four key areas in the draft plan. It includes urging the Brigade to look again at responding to emerging risks related to climate change in the final plan in light of the recent fires in London.

Chair of the Fire, Resilience and Emergency Planning Committee, Anne Clarke AM, said:

"The London Assembly Fire, Resilience and Emergency Planning Committee welcomes the publication of the draft Community Risk Management Plan and recognises the eagerness to engage with Londoners.

"We were disappointed that the publication of the draft plan was delayed for a year. However, we are pleased to finally have an updated approach that explains how the London Fire Brigade will change as the risk in London changes.

"The draft plan includes details on the steps the Brigade is taking to mitigate the impact of flooding, following lessons learned from extreme urban flooding in parts of our city last summer.

"While this is welcome, we strongly urge that the final plan takes a similar approach on dealing with the impacts of extreme hot weather.

"The Met Office has advised that extreme heatwaves are likely to become more prevalent because of climate change, meaning grass fires like those witnessed this summer could become more frequent.

"The Brigade must ensure it has adequate training and policies in place to appropriately respond to the threat of wildfires and ensure it is protecting Londoners from heatwave hell.

"It is also vital that the Brigade receives full funding from the Government to recruit and retain enough firefighters and have the equipment to keep themselves, and Londoners, safe."