During 2017, I will be continuing to work with the members of the England & Wales Wildfire Forum and the Scottish Wildfire Forum to raise the profile of the wildfire risk in the UK and to increase our level of preparedness.
See the BBC News report for some footage from Valparaiso, Chile of what a wildfire in a built up area looks like. In the UK we tend to think that wildfire only happens in remote glens, dales, coombes or valleys, but the rural-urban interface is increasing and with drier, hotter summers in prospect as a result of climate change we need to plan better for wildfire.
This is an emerging theme for the UK wildfire conference that is being planned for November 2017. The EWWF has coordinating role to play in this conference and more details will be published soon.
Could wildfire get into the centres of population in the UK? Yes, it could, and perhaps it is a case of 'when' not 'if'.
