New research from the London Assembly Research Unit has shown which areas of London have experienced the most outdoor fires in summers since 2020.
The analysis of London Fire Brigade Data shows that Bexley, Havering and Hounslow are the three boroughs with the highest number of fires, with Bexley alone having 334 outdoor fires in summers from 2020-2023.
The research was prepared for a London Assembly Fire Committee meeting to see how prepared the LFB is to tackle the increasing threat of summer fires.
Chair of the London Assembly Fire Committee, Hina Bokhari AM, has written to LFB Commissioner, Andy Roe, welcoming progress made since the LFB experienced its busiest day since World War Two in July 2022 but expressing concern that London’s firefighters still do not have access to lightweight PPE.
A Major Incident Review of the 2022 fires found that a PPE shortage led to 95 incidences where staff couldn't work, with female firefighters "disproportionately impacted" and twice as likely as male firefighters to be unable to go out to tackle fires.
Fire Committee Chair, Hina Bokhari AM, said:
“Wildfires are a worrying threat to the safety of Londoners, with increased temperatures caused by climate change leading to an ever-greater likelihood of such incidents – as we have seen in the data from Bexley and other London boroughs.
“Many lessons from 2022 have been learned, with the LFB introducing new equipment and regularly speaking to partners in the UK and overseas to improve how it trains for and responds to outdoor fires.
“But it is very concerning that lightweight PPE is still not available two years on – limiting our firefighters’ ability to carry out their vital jobs effectively and safely.”
The Committee Chair has also asked the LFB Commissioner to confirm whether he supports the Fire Brigades Union call for a new national strategy for wildfires, to enable sufficient funding and research to be put in place in preparing for this risk.
Notes to editors
- As well as investigating issues that matter to Londoners, the London Assembly acts as a check and a balance on the Mayor.
- Find out more about the work of the Fire Committee.
- The data used in this analysis is primarily drawn from London Fire Brigade incident records, published on the London Datastore. Data for each summer covers the 1 June to 31 August. This date range is referred to as the “summer period” in the visualisations.
- The data excludes fires which occurred in gardens, in order to capture fires which occurred in less managed areas.
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