{"id":424428,"date":"2025-09-14T19:32:14","date_gmt":"2025-09-14T19:32:14","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/424428\/"},"modified":"2025-09-14T19:32:14","modified_gmt":"2025-09-14T19:32:14","slug":"anne-clarke-on-the-london-fire-brigades-preparation-for-hot-summers","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/424428\/","title":{"rendered":"Anne Clarke on the London Fire Brigade&#8217;s preparation for hot summers"},"content":{"rendered":"<p>\n  This summer has been Britain\u2019s warmest.\n<\/p>\n<p>\n  As our climate continues to change, we must plan now for hotter, drier summers. That means training, resourcing, and clear\u00a0policies for tackling wildfires.\u00a0\n<\/p>\n<p>\n  Long dry spells have left our open spaces parched. Fires damage property, threaten wildlife,\u00a0and put lives at risk. Climate change is making these incidents more frequent. There have\u00a0been at least 64 wildfires in London this year.\u00a0\n<\/p>\n<p>\n  As Labour\u2019s lead for fire at the London Assembly, I have spent this year working with the London Fire Brigade (LFB) to make sure they are ready. \u00a0\n<\/p>\n<p>\n  <img   alt=\"Anne Clarke is prepared for more hot summers\" style=\"width: 100%;\"\/>Anne Clarke is preparing for more hot summers (Image: Anne Clarke AM) I am glad to see lighter protective gear that helps\u00a0firefighters work better in extreme heat is now being trialled.\n<\/p>\n<p>\n  The LFB is trialling new wildfire\u00a04&#215;4 vehicles that can drive over grasslands and where large fire engines can&#8217;t too.\n<\/p>\n<p>\n  They are\u00a0using drones and &#8220;holey hoses&#8221; that create a wall of water.\n<\/p>\n<p>\n  All of this has been partly funded\u00a0from City Hall as part of a \u00a340m transformation fund.\u00a0\n<\/p>\n<p>\n  I have also pushed for more public education. Fires are often started by human activity.\u00a0Barbecues, carelessly discarded cigarettes, and even glass left on dry grass can all spark\u00a0disaster. \u00a0\n<\/p>\n<p>\n  I am pleased to see that the LFB has improved communication with councils so they have more\u00a0warning when dry vegetation becomes a risk, and has launched warnings ahead of summer.\u00a0\n<\/p>\n<p>\n  These are important steps, but we must keep reminding Londoners of the risks.\u00a0\n<\/p>\n<p>\n  At the Assembly\u2019s fire committee, I have urged the\u00a0LFB to update its plans to include policies, training, and resourcing specific to wildfires, too. \u00a0\n<\/p>\n<p>\n  Closer to home, the threat of fire on Hampstead Heath is always a concern locally.\n<\/p>\n<p>\n  Each\u00a0summer, we see small fires from barbecues and litter. Thankfully, there were no serious\u00a0incidents this year.\n<\/p>\n<p>\n  With changing weather patterns, we cannot afford to be complacent.\u00a0By working together, residents, councils, and the LFB can protect the Heath and keep it safe\u00a0for generations to come.\u00a0\n<\/p>\n<ul>\n<li>\n    <strong>Anne Clarke is Labour\u00a0London Assembly member for Barnet and Camden.<\/strong>\n  <\/li>\n<\/ul>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"This summer has been Britain\u2019s warmest. As our climate continues to change, we must plan now for hotter,&hellip;\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":424429,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[7757],"tags":[748,393,4884,257,16,15],"class_list":{"0":"post-424428","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-london","8":"tag-britain","9":"tag-england","10":"tag-great-britain","11":"tag-london","12":"tag-uk","13":"tag-united-kingdom"},"share_on_mastodon":{"url":"https:\/\/pubeurope.com\/@uk\/115204321715623165","error":""},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/424428","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=424428"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/424428\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/424429"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=424428"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=424428"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=424428"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}