Wildfire in the United Kingdom: Status and Key Issues
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WILDFIRE IN THE UNITED KINGDOM: STATUS AND KEY ISSUES Julia McMorrow sources. First, fire statistics published by the School of Environment and Development, and Fire Department of Communities and Local Government Research Centre (CLG) and the MODIS (Moderate Resolution Imaging The University of Manchester, U.K. Spectroradiometer) active fire database are used [email protected] to demonstrate the frequency and timing of U.K. wildfires and to show deficiencies in the evidence base. Second, Community Risk Registers and CLG Abstract.—This paper reviews the status of wildfire reports are used to demonstrate the level of awareness risk in the United Kingdom and examines some of the of wildfire risk. Finally, findings from the 2007-2009 key issues in U.K. wildfire management. Wildfires Fire and Ecosystem Services (FIRES n.d.) seminar challenge the resources of U.K. Fire and Rescue series on fire and climate change in U.K. moorland and Services (FRSs), especially in dry years, yet FRSs are heaths are used to examine the relationships among poorly equipped and trained to deal with wildfire. A wildfire, prescribed burning, and ecosystem services brief geography of U.K. wildfires is presented using in moorlands and heathlands in the context of climate fire statistics from the Department of Communities change and changes in the rural economy. and Local Government (CLG) and the MODIS (Moderate Resolution Imaging Spectroradiometer) 1.2 Wildfire, Moorlands, and Ecosystem active fire database. Citizens’ awareness of U.K. Services in the United Kingdom wildfires is reviewed using Community Risk Registers “Wildfire” is the de facto term in the United Kingdom and CLG reports. Residents have little awareness for uncontrolled vegetation fires that are large by U.K. because wildfire reporting is of poor quality, severe standards. The term “wildland fire” is rarely used since wildfires occur sporadically, they do not result in loss the United Kingdom has few wildlands in the North of life, and “property” is defined narrowly so that American sense of the word. Most U.K. land is not far environmental assets are not adequately considered. from settlements. In addition, this paper examines how government policy on habitat management in moorlands does Moorlands (Fig. 1) are arguably the United Kingdom’s not adequately address wildfire risk management. closest equivalent to wildlands. Moorlands are open Moorland managers express fear that conservation landscapes of dwarf shrubs, notably heather (especially restrictions, especially on prescribed burning, are Calluna vulgaris), cotton grass (Eriophorum increasing fuel loads and hence the risk of severe vaginatum), and acid grasslands. The United Kingdom wildfire. In the United Kingdom, management contains most of the world’s remaining heather, which for multiple land uses requires wildfire-aware is protected under European Union (E.U.) Biodiversity management of ecosystem services and ecosystem Action Plans. Much of the moorland in the north and service-aware management of wildfire. west of the United Kingdom is blanket bog on deep peat. This moorland is the U.K.’s most important carbon store, containing the equivalent of 20 years of 1.0 INTRODUCTION its CO2 emissions (Worrall and Evans 2009). 1.1 Aims and Data Sources It is important to recognize that even remote moorlands are only semi-natural ecosystems, altered To review the status of wildfire risk in the United by centuries of burning and grazing (Davies et al. Kingdom and examine some key issues in U.K. 2008). Many of the largest wildfires in the United wildfire management, this paper draws on three Proceedings of the Second Conference on the Human Dimensions of Wildland Fire GTR-NRS-P-84 44 Kingdom occur in moorlands because firefighters bird, red grouse (Lagopus lagopus scotica) (Fig. 1). have trouble reaching them and because peat fires Like heather moorland, lowland heath is another are especially dangerous and inherently difficult to fire-adapted ecosystem where severe wildfires control. are a problem. Heather and gorse are fire-adapted ecosystems because fire assists regeneration by, for An ecosystem services approach has been adopted instance, encouraging seed germination and preventing as a unifying framework by government agencies succession to scrubland (Davies et al. 2008). Lowland managing the British countryside (Defra 2007b). heath, made up of heather and gorse on sandy soils, Moorlands are important for a range of ecosystem is found in such areas as Dorset, the southwest of services (Bonn et al. 2009). Supporting services England, and East Anglia. These are important habitats include biodiversity and nutrient cycling, both of for rare species such as the ladybird spider (Eresus which depend on maintaining the peat substrate. cinnaberinus) and the Dartford warbler (Sylvia Provisioning services include timber, wool from undata). sheep, and food from grazing animals and game. Water supply, carbon cycle regulation, and flood protection The 14 National Parks in Great Britain (England, are examples of regulating services. Cultural services Wales, and Scotland, excluding Northern Ireland) are include game-shooting and informal recreation. not in public ownership (Quinn et al. 2010). They are cultural landscapes where people live, work, and go Heather moorland is a fire-adapted ecosystem for recreation; management for multiple land uses is maintained by rotational prescribed burning for the norm (Bonn et al. 2009). Wildfire management habitat management, especially for that of the game in the National Parks and other moorland habitat Figure 1.—Prescribed burning for grouse moor management, North Pennine moors, England. Proceedings of the Second Conference on the Human Dimensions of Wildland Fire GTR-NRS-P-84 45 areas faces the challenge of being superimposed on one in Northern Ireland. Each is governed and funded a framework of complex land ownership and diverse by a Fire Authority. The United Kingdom has no land uses. agency with specific responsibility to manage wildfire. Instead, wildfire management falls within the scope of Wildfires also occur in peri-urban grasslands and many agencies, and statutory responsibility rests with agricultural land, even though stubble burning is now FRSs under the Fire and Rescue Services Act 2004 banned. One problem in analyzing U.K. wildfire count (or its equivalent for the devolved administrations of data is that pre-2009 CLG figures lumped everything Scotland and Northern Ireland). from small grassland fires and intentional stubble burning to major moorland, heathland, and forest fires FRSs do not have separate forces for fighting fires into one class—referred to hereafter by the normal in wildlands as opposed to structures and equipment CLG shorthand of “grassland fires”. and training favor preparation for structural fires. This bias reflects the partial funding of Fire Authorities 2.0 A BRIEF GEOGRAPHY from local taxation, the majority of which comes OF U.K. WILDFIRES from urban areas. Even though three-quarters of the fires attended by FRSs between 1995 and 2007 were outdoor fires and 38 percent of these were “grassland 2.1 Does the United Kingdom have Wildfires? fires,” FRSs are primarily equipped and trained to deal with structural fires in urban settings. Few have access The United Kingdom has a temperate climate that to all-terrain vehicles or wildland fighting equipment. is not usually associated with wildfire, yet wildfires Partnerships between rural land managers and agencies occur annually. Severe fires by U.K. standards can within a local fire group are helping to overcome this occur in any year but became a significant hazard in limitation. drought years such as 1976, 1995, and 2003. One peat fire in the Peak District (Fig. 2) in April 2003 burned The United Kingdom has a fire-averse attitude to 3 square miles of moorland, including areas under wildfire, regardless of intensity and duration. In this statutory conservation protection. Smoke closed major respect, U.K. policy is similar to the United States’ roads and disrupted air traffic at Manchester Airport; pre-1971 no-burn policy and “fire out by 10 a.m.” £2 million was ultimately required for restoration. objective (U.S. Fire Administration 2001). For the Another Peak District fire in July 2006 required safety of fire ground personnel, however, fires are 30 days of firefighting at a cost to taxpayers of not normally fought at night in the United Kingdom. approximately £1 million. A wildfire on the North York Zero-tolerance of wildfires is not surprising in a small Moors in May 2010 resulted in the evacuation of more country with a high population density and a history than 250 people from a campsite. Although these fires of multiple land uses. Much of England, especially did not cause fatalities and are not on the same scale in the southeast, is the equivalent of a wildland- as those that occur in North America, Australia, or the urban interface. The Local Authority-based planning Mediterranean countries, they had negative impacts on system regulates where houses are built, but wildfire ecosystem services in the short term, and represented risk is not normally a factor in housing decisions. a significant challenge to Fire and Rescue Services Dorset (Fig. 2) is an exception because gorse fires (FRS) resource resilience and service delivery. on heaths are a significant problem. No building is allowed within 0.25 miles of Natura heaths (an E.U. 2.2 Wildfire as a Challenge to FRS conservation designation). A mitigation fee of £1719 Resilience is charged for permission to build a house within 0.25 Fire suppression is organized regionally in the United to 3 miles of Natura heaths, and this fee finances an Kingdom and is free at the point of delivery. There are innovative wildfire management program as part of the 43 FRSs in England and Wales, six in Scotland, and Proceedings of the Second Conference on the Human Dimensions of Wildland Fire GTR-NRS-P-84 46 Figure 2.—MODIS Hotspot/Active Fire Detections for the U.K., excluding Shetland Islands, 1 Jan 2003 – 29 March 2010.