Greater Manchester wildfires 2018 - it always rains in Manchester Bradley Frost, Wakefield Council and Ben Levy, Greater Manchester Fire and Rescue Service Sponsor logo here As we attended this conference in June last year, a number of small moorland fires had broken out on Saddleworth Moor in Tameside; an area to the East of Manchester on the border with West Yorkshire and Derbyshire. A further fire broke out shortly afterwards on Winter Hill, north of Bolton, on the border with Lancashire. Both fires were declared as major incidents. This presentation will hopefully tell the story of these incidents from an operational perspective and from the way in which this was supported through implementing our business continuity arrangements. Brief Introduction to GMFRS • One of the largest Fire and Rescue Services outside London • Covers an area of approximately 500 square miles • Culturally diverse population of 2.8 million people • 41 fire stations • 2,100 members of staff Rochdale Fire Station: Distribution Centre Winter Hill Wildfire Bolton North Fire Station: Distribution Centre Denshaw Wildfire Fire Service Saddleworth Wildfire Headquarters Stalybridge Fire Station: Distribution Centre North West Fire Control Summary • Peak period: June 24th to July 11th 2018 • Rapid escalation to spate conditions • Risk to Critical National Infrastructure and public water supplies • Prioritisation to life-risk incidents: dynamic mobilising • 26th June: Major Incident declared: 34 homes evacuated • 27th June: 30 pumps supporting from other FRSs • 28th June: 57 pumps in use including 12 mutual aid pumps • 28th June: Two extended period of 40 pumps in use on • 30th June: Major Incident declared at Winter Hill • 7th July: Further wildfire at Denshaw: 20 pumps in use • 11th July: It rained…….. North West Fire Control NR HVP Tactical Advisors Cheshire FRS Tameside Council Lancashire FRS Bolton MRT Derbyshire FRS Oldham MRT Merseyside FRS Rossendale MRT South Yorkshire FRS Holme Valley MRT West Yorkshire FRS Bay Search and Rescue Nottinghamshire FRS Tesco Northumberland FRS Asda South Wales FRS Morrisons Gloucestershire FRS Salvation Army Kent FRS Firefighters’ Charity Cumbria FRS Internal Volunteers West Midlands FS Local and National Media London Fire Brigade North West 4x4 Response Royal Regiment of Scotland Scientific, Technical and Advisory Cell Greater Manchester Police Public Health England North West Ambulance Service Environment Agency Greater Manchester Combined Authority Met Office Greater Manchester Mayor British Telecom Greater Manchester Deputy Mayor United Utilities NFCC Wildfire Group Enville Estates NFCC Wildfire Tactical Advisors Food Standards Agency During this three week period, the Met Office’s ‘England and Wales Fire Severity Index’ (FSI) repeatedly predicted the wildfire risk across Greater Manchester as between ‘Very High’ and ‘High’. On 22nd June, The ‘Natural Hazard Partnership Daily Hazard Assessment’ issued the first of 34 consecutive daily Amber wildfire warnings, continuing to warn of severe wildfire conditions across the region due to the ongoing warm and dry conditions. The Met Office issued an extended Amber wildfire warning for the North West region, translating to: ‘Severe wildfire conditions with likelihood of difficult to control’. Perfect storm..? Time to implement the Severe Weather Plan? 26th June Saddleworth 29th June Saddleworth 4th July 2.8 miles Saddleworth 27th June Winter Hill 29th June Winter Hill 4th July 3.2 miles Winter Hill SADDLEWORTH MANCHESTER CITY CENTRE M60 One Week Later… WINTER HILL DENSHAW MARSDEN MOOR 2019 SADDLEWORTH North West Fire Control Issues • Firefighter and Officer Welfare • Access to multiple incident sites • Communications and coordination between incident sites • Water for firefighting: deep-seated, peat-fuelled fires • High temperatures – low humidity – shift changeover • Over 1000 mobilisations by North West Fire Control • Business as usual activities • Business Continuity – Critical Functions Limited suitable vehicles required crews to proceed on foot across large expanses of remote moorland. • Poor visibility • Limited communications • Arduous working conditions • Thankfully, few injuries… Opportunities and challenges of multiple helicopters working via Air Support Cell. Used for firefighting and daily aerial reconnaissance. Military Aid used to actively support firefighting and create fire breaks. Landowners, Gamekeepers and the Farming community provided additional access, resources, skills and knowledge. Four High Volume Pumps delivered deep onto moorland: Over 2km of hose laid. Air support plan considered following testing at Exercise Triton II. 90.8 million litres of water delivered over 200 hours. Communications o Airwave o Digital fireground radios o Mobile phones Satellite phones Satellite land line and internet External interest • Home Office • Government • Media Additional fires tested all resources to maximum demand • Maintaining critical business functions • Restrictions on organisational activity • All staff committed to operational activity and support • Business as usual: MP12, MP8, MP6, water incidents, etc.. • Amended working hours • Volunteers across Combined Authority • Four officer groups • 64 operational crew debriefs • 10 individual submissions • Command Support Room Debrief • GMFRS Strategic Debrief • Saddleworth Multi-Agency Debrief • Winter Hill Multi-Agency Debrief • North West Fire Control Debrief • Home Office Debrief Debriefs Common Themes • The management of relief duties at protracted incidents • The application of the Incident Command System (ICS) across large scale, simultaneous and multi-sited incidents • The role and effectiveness of the Command Support Room to support incidents • The organisation’s planning, capability, equipment and tactical knowledge with respect to wildfire events • Arrangements for recall to duty • The effectiveness of welfare arrangements at incidents • Organisational coordination of large scale incidents • ….not all about Wildfires • Risk Review • Capability Review • Upskilling of personnel • Business Continuity Management • Support to National Fire Chief’s Council Wildfire Group • DEFRA Project Board • Planning for the next time….. What Next? Operational and Welfare Support Saddleworth – Operational Winter Hill– Operational Rochdale North – Denshaw – Operational Fire fighting (numerous Fire fighting (two locations Operational Fire fighting Fire fighting locations 29 appliances) 10 appliances) BAU Incidents Local Incident Command Local Incident Command Local Incident Command Local Incident Command North West Fire Control) call handling / mobilisation (appliances / officers / specialist resources) Operational Operational Command – Fire Service Headquarters – 24 hour tactical support for Operational Crews BCM Welfare Cell – Fire Service Headquarters – 24 hour welfare support for Operational Crews Stalybridge “hub” Bolton North “hub” Rochdale “hub” (collection / distribution) (collection / distribution) (collection / distribution) Refreshment Point – Refreshment Point – San Welfare Swineshaw Reservoir Marino Restaurant Mobile refreshment points / deliveries to specific locations / individual crews Implementation of Business Continuity Arrangements • Overall aim – support the operational response / command support • Dedicated office set up at FSHQ (Swinton) • Crewed by team of support staff - 7am to 10pm (voluntary basis from non critical workforce) two shifts (7-3, 3-10) • Out of hours dedicated telephone hotline (10pm – 7am) • Individual tasks / specialist areas Welfare Arrangements • Swapping crews • Managing donations • Coordination and delivery to scene • Maintaining a rota / staffing distribution centres & refreshment points • Refrigeration • Welfare facilities at scene • Exposure BCM What Went Well • All incidents resolved / no major injuries • Maintained fire cover throughout Greater Manchester during the period • Excellent feedback from partner agencies / other FRSs • Tested our BCM arrangements (lessons learned – plans refined) • Incredible support – local communities / major companies • Virtually all staff and volunteers involved in some way BCM What Didn’t Go So Well • Complex - widespread nature of the incidents – delays in distributing welfare / changing crews • Initial delays in setting up the welfare cell • Communication between Operational Support and Welfare Team could have been better (co-located) • Reliance on certain individuals – Single Point of Failure BCM Lessons Learned • Invoke BCM as soon as possible • Document everything / decisions logs / share information • Communication Messages (Internal / external) • Constantly re-evaluate – ability and agility to react vs planning • BUT – avoid being too reactionary • Identify / utilise “non critical staff” Personal Reflections • Get involved / take the lead • Cannot do everything (tactical vs operational) • Involve others – delegate • Hidden skills • Look after yourself / others around you • Things will go wrong – don’t panic / move on • Importance of Communication 2019…. • The number of wildfires larger than 25ha has been greater in 2019 so far than any previous year. • The area burned is on a par with previous highs only five months into the year 2019…. .