Northamptonshire Fire and Rescue Service has introduced two new Seasonal Support Vehicles as a trial to enhance our ability to respond to wildfires and better protect people and land in Northamptonshire.
Based at Woodford Halse and Raunds Fire Stations, the vehicles have been strategically placed on different sides of the county to cover the whole of Northamptonshire.
The Seasonal Support Vehicles are designed to transport equipment and firefighters to support crews at fires in locations that may not be easily accessed by larger fire engines.
The Vehicles don’t have fire hoses and instead are equipped with specialised tools to fight wildfires such as beaters that are used to create breaks in the ground helping to prevent fires spreading, and wildfire backpacks that can carry up to 20 litres of water each.
New Firefighting blowers have also been introduced. They are designed to blow and push fire back on itself rather than spreading further across dry ground.
The two new vehicles have been brought into the fleet as part of plans to respond to climate change and incidents related to its effects, such as wildfires, which are also outlined as a priority in Northamptonshire Fire and Rescue Services’ Community Risk Management Plan.
Wildfires have become a national issue for fire and rescue services – the National Fire Chiefs Council reported in June this year that fire and rescue services in England and Wales had responded to 564 wildfires, a 717% increase in wildfires incidents for the same period last year.
Area Manager for Northamptonshire Fire and Rescue Service Neil Sadler has overseen the project.
He said: “We have introduced the vehicles into our fleet on a trial basis following learning from the summer of 2022, where Northamptonshire had a large number of wildfires, and the experiences of other fire services this summer like Dorset and Wiltshire Fire Service, who have been heavily hit by wildfires in the past month.
“Wildfires are a risk for our largely rural county and we are constantly reviewing our capability to respond to them effectively and safely. The Seasonal Support Vehicles and our new equipment will help to ensure that we are prepared to protect the people, homes, and land in Northamptonshire.”
As part of the trial, Northamptonshire Fire and Rescue Service will be looking into how the vehicles could be used to support the response to flooding in the county and what they would be equipped with.
