Fire service faced 'incredibly hard' summer demand in Dorset

A senior member of Dorset & Wiltshire Fire and Rescue Service said this year has been one of the busiest he has experienced in his 27 years as an operational firefighter.

Emergency crews have battled multiple large heath and wild fires across the conurbation and rural parts of the county.

This has included frequent heath fires, with the majority of them started by human intervention – be that a discarded cigarette or more often a campfire or open fire like a disposable barbecue.

Group manager Stuart Gillion, who covers the BCP Council area for the fire service, told the Daily Echo: “It has been quite unprecedented with the series of incidents around the dry spell that we started in July and fed through into August, coinciding with the harvest time in the fields as well and the breaking up of the schools and the influx of visitors to Dorset.

Stuart Gillion (Image: DWFRS)

“It has been a very, very busy period and one of the busiest years I have experienced as an operational firefighter out of the 27 years that I have done.”

In July and August, the fire service saw a 33 per cent (2,411 to 3,216) year-on-year increase in total incidents attended and a staggering 257 per cent rise (211 to 755) in fires in the open attended.

• Read more: Huge Canford Heath fire believed to be started by 'human act'

Mr Gillion said 38 of the services 50 stations are staffed by on-call teams, with parts of the service put under strain due to the high demand.

“We have had a significant increase in heath fire or wildfire incidents,” Mr Gillion said. “That has been the largest bulk of our work and they are labour intensive and they are also quite protracted.

“We had a number of significant fires over recent months and it almost sort of began in April when we had a large incident in Canford Heath. We had a recent incident at Studland and that draws on our resources.”

Studland heath fire last month. Picture: Swanage Fire Station (Image: Swanage Fire Station)

The firefighter said the service worked with partners to try and educate people as much as possible.

This included trying to drive disposable barbecues off the market, promoting a ban of them and securing public space protection orders.

• Read more: Major heath fire at Studland 'believed to be caused by barbecue or campfire'

Mr Gillion said: “It is frustrating because it can cause such devastation and risk to human life, to the wildlife and they can spread incredibly quickly, so the strength and velocity of fires in the open should never be under be underestimated and that puts an incredible strain and hard working conditions for our teams when it could so easily be avoided.

“We have a campaign, ‘Bring a picnic, not a barbecue’. It is just as fun and enjoy our open spaces by having a picnic rather than a barbecue. It takes out that risk and brings an element of control.”

A fire at Upton Heath in early August

Given the service’s high level of on-call firefighters, Mr Gillion said there was a large turnover, with recruitment opportunities always available.

Discussing the role of being on-call staff, he said: “It is wonderful contribution you can make to your communities and the wider people you work with.

“As a highly trained professional, our on-called firefighters are key to our response.

"We are always looking for people to support stations and to offer their time and we thank those individuals who put themselves forward for recruitment and also the primary employers that allow their full-time staff to come along and support Dorset & Wiltshire Fire and Rescue in on-call recruitment and on-call services.

“Please visit your local station if you think you are able to help us out with recruitment or visit our website.”