The 48-hour heatwave period had a serious impact on the significant rise in incidents for Nottinghamshire Fire and Rescue Service.
From 00:01 on Monday 18 July until 00:01 on Thursday 21 July 2022, fire crews attended a total of 243 incidents, which is 152 more compared to the same period in 2021.
The service declared a major incident during the evening of Tuesday 19 July 2022 due to the vast amount of call outs, including a 15-pump forest fire in Blidworth and a flat fire in the Hockley area.
There has also been a huge demand on our joint control room, seeing a 312% increase in emergency calls during the heatwave.
Sadly, we have seen a rise in incidents before the heatwave arrived in the UK and we don’t doubt that this will continue throughout the summer, especially as we enter the school holidays.
The services asks the communities of Nottingham and Nottinghamshire to help prevent the emergencies from happening through taking extra care and by reporting any suspected acts of deliberate fire-setting anonymously via Firestoppers on 0800 1695 558.
Area Manager Andy Macey said: “The service has received an exceptional amount of calls over the past few days, resulting in a large amount of emergency incidents.
“Fire crews have done an amazing job at every single incident they have attended. It has been extremely hard for them however due to their professionalism and teamwork; they have managed to get through it together and continue to do their jobs of making safer communities.
“Our staff in joint fire control have also been working extremely hard in these busy periods. They aren’t visible to the public and their work often goes unseen, yet they’re doing a vital job when it comes to responding to any incidents that may come in.
“I would like to remind the public to stay safe, especially when they are spending time outdoors. Even though the temperature has dropped slightly since Monday and Tuesday, the ground is still very dry.
“Our advice would be to not have BBQs away from your home and to refrain from having fires outdoors.
“If you are spending time outside, make sure you are taking away all your litter with you, especially glass bottles, and disposing your cigarettes carefully.
“Lastly, we would like to remind people that even though it is warm outside, the temperate of water may still be cold. Please don’t swim in areas where there are no lifeguards – you never know what is beneath the surface or how strong the current is.”
