By William Turtle-Clark

Prolonged dry, hot weather over the last few months has increased a risk of fire events in Herefordshire, across the UK and in Europe.

As a result, the UK Government issued an emergency alert to millions of phones on the 14th of August, warning of a "serious risk of wildfires nationally", urging "residents, landowners and visitors" not to "undertake any activity that could start a fire".

Dave Swallow, Group Commander and West District Commander at Hereford and Worcester Fire and Rescue Service (HWFR), and the National Fire Chiefs Council's Wildfire Deputy Lead and Lead Technical Advisor spoke to HHR's William Turtle-Clark about how fire crews have been repsonding.

He mentioned that there had been "a large number of vegetation fires" and "a few larger ones that have needed additional resources" alongside all the "business as usual" events including road traffic accidents and other types of fires.

Swallow praised a new app being trialled as "a massive benefit" which allows those making 999 calls to click a link and send in video footage, allowing the fire service to make decisions about which resources are needed.

When asked how fire services manage their resources on peak days, he mentioned that "across Herefordshire alone we've got thirteen fire stations with at least one fire engine in every one".

Swallow highlighted that many fire fighters are on-call, meaning they "have primary employment somewhere else". "If we end up with two or three incidents going on at the same time we call in and move resources around the service."

He discussed how HWFR has over 30 fire engines in Herefordshire and Worcestershire and how the "control room will see where the gaps are and move those fire engines about to cover some of those gaps" so resilience can be provided.

He also mentioned pre-exisiting agreements held with neighbouring fire services so resources can be sent from them if there is an additional need. Swallow called this "quite a regular occurence; we go over the border and they come over the border to us to assist at incidents".

When asked what actions the public can take to mitigate the risk of starting or spreading fires following the dry weather, Swallow urged the public to "be extra vigilent and extra careful". He warned against campfires, barbecues and bonfires as well as urging people to be "really careful" with litter, especially cigarettes and glass bottles.

Swallow advised that if people see a fire starting or smoke whislt they are out and about they should "diall 999, ask for the fire service, give the best location they can" and ensure "they are keeping themselves safe" by moving away from it. He also mentioned that callers may be asked to accept a link to send a video to the fire service or to wait somewhere to wave a fire crew in "partcularly if it's in a remote area that's difficult to access".

Published 28th August 2026