Two specialist wildfire bases set up in North West

Lancashire and Greater Manchester have been chosen as two of the country's five wildfire bases.

Nearly £100m is being invested in teams of specialist firefighters and an overhaul of fire and rescue equipment to tackle the growing risk of wildfires, the government has announced.

The teams are deployed in strategic locations, which also include Northumberland, London and South Wales, to more quickly ease the pressure on local services as the number of wildfires continues to grow due to hotter and drier conditions brought by climate change.

Fire services in England tackled nearly 27,000 grassland, woodland and crop fires in the spring and summer last year.

The teams undertook training over the last few months, increasing their skills, including in specific strategies like tactical burning, and travelled to South Africa and Poland to learn from international counterparts.

In Lancashire, the existing base at Bacup fire station will take on the new national wildfire role, according to the Local Democracy Reporting Service.

Chief Fire Officer Jon Charters at Lancashire Fire and Rescue Jon Charters said: "The team has developed into a highly skilled and capable wildfire asset that will now support communities not just locally, but across the UK."

The teams undertook training over the last few months, increasing their skills, including in specific strategies like tactical burning, and travelled to South Africa and Poland to learn from international counterparts.

The new investment announced by the Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government (MHCLG), also includes the biggest upgrade to National Resilience fire vehicles and equipment in 20 years.

The National Resilience programme was established after the 9/11 attacks and provides specialist capabilities, staff and resources for special incidents including natural disasters, industrial accidents or terrorist attacks.

Its capabilities were used more than 1,000 times last year to tackle a range of incidents, and wildfires were identified as an increasing demand on the service, the MHCLG said.

Building safety minister Samantha Dixon said: "This country benefits from a dedicated fire and rescue service and as incidents continue to evolve in complexity, it's critical that we back those on the frontline with the latest equipment.

"Last year saw some of our most devastating wildfires in recent history and as we head into peak season, we're getting on and delivering the resource, training and assets needed to minimise the escalating risk."

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