Wildfire policy and management in England: an evolving response from Fire and Rescue Services, forestry and cross-sector groups

Abstract

Severe wildfires are an intermittent problem in England. The paper presents the first analysis of wildfire policy, showing its halting evolution over two decades. First efforts to coordinate wildfire management came from local fire operation groups, where stakeholders such as fire services, land owners and amenity groups shared knowledge and equipment to tackle the problem. A variety of structures and informal management solutions emerged in response to local needs. Knowledge of wildfire accumulated within regional and national wildfire forums and academic networks. Only later did the need for central emergency planning and the response to climate change produce a national policy response. Fire statistics have allowed wildfires to be spatially evidenced on a national scale only since 2009. National awareness of wildfire was spurred by the 2011 fire season, and the high-impact Swinley Forest fire, which threatened critical infrastructure and communities within 50 miles of London. Severe wildfire was included in the National Risk Register for the first time in 2013. Cross-sector approaches to wildfire proved difficult as government responsibility is fragmented along the hazard chain. Stakeholders such as the Forestry Commission pioneered good practice in adaptive land management to build fire resilience into UK forests. The grass-roots evolution of participatory solutions has also been a key enabling process. A coordinated policy is now needed to identify best practice and to promote understanding of the role of fire in the ecosystem.This article is part of a themed issue ‘The interaction of fire and mankind’.

Living on a flammable planet: interdisciplinary, cross-scalar and varied cultural lessons, prospects and challenges

“…These challenges cut across particular geographical, social and temporal scales that require equivalent scientific and policy emphasis. From transnational Earth system impacts [1], to domestic impacts on sovereign nations [2], to impacts on local communities [3] and the individuals who make up communities, the perceptions, decisionmaking and prioritization of policy goals are built upon cultural and historical experiences [4][5][6] that have legacy effects, lags and feedbacks across temporal scales [7][8][9][10][11][12]. Although there is a growing literature on building fire-adapted communities [13,14], it is important to recognize that there is both heterogeneity and variability in the historical, technological, cultural and environmental contexts in which humans perceive and respond to fire challenges [15], and that in turn these have cross-scalar feedbacks through sociopolitical structures [2,16], intergenerational cultural transmission [5], historical ecology of landscapes and biomes [12,17,18], and even fire-atmosphere-climate feedbacks [19][20][21].…”

At the nexus of fire, water and society

“…Fewer studies of the effects of peatland fires on water supplies exist compared to the number of studies in forested water supply catchments [33,34]. Though groundwater constitutes 25-40% of the global drinking water supply [35], very little research has been conducted on fire effects on this drinking water source [36].…”

“…Denver spent $23 million USD to remove sediment from a critical water supply reservoir). The primary concern related to peatland burning is the potential to increase the release of DOC, particulate organic matter, suspended sediments, aluminium and iron [33,34,70,71]. The presence of DOC can lead to water discoloration [33,34] and the need for more chlorine to achieve adequate disinfection [72].…”

“…The primary concern related to peatland burning is the potential to increase the release of DOC, particulate organic matter, suspended sediments, aluminium and iron [33,34,70,71]. The presence of DOC can lead to water discoloration [33,34] and the need for more chlorine to achieve adequate disinfection [72]. The reaction of chlorine and DOC in treated water can lead to the formation of potentially carcinogenic tri-halomethanes or other disinfection by-products [14].The presence of metals in the dissolved phase or attached to suspended sediment requires advanced water-treatment processes [20,59].…”

Air quality policy and fire management responses addressing smoke from wildland fires in the United States and Australia

“…As countries such as the United Kingdom (Gazzard et al 2016) and Canada (Hope et al 2016) are recognising a new future of living with wildfires, the development of new regulations by those and other governments could be greatly aided by understanding how air quality policy and wildland fire policy have co-evolved in countries with a long history of these coupled challenges. In particular, a discussion of the history of how these policies have interacted and the consequences (intended and unintended) on the management of both ecosystems and air quality could serve in helping other countries avoid challenges involved with competing end goals of different sectors of the public.…”