Lives 'will be lost' unless UK does more to combat wildfires, committee chairwoman says
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Lives "will be lost" unless more is done to combat the increasing risk of wildfires, the chairwoman of the UK's Climate Change Committee (CCC) has said after a record number of blazes this summer.
Baroness Brown told BBC File on 4 Investigates "not enough action" had been taken in light of predictions the UK is facing longer, drier summers due to global warming.
Earlier this year:
- One man died in a wildfire in Gloucestershire.
- 19 homes were destroyed in Stourbridge, near Birmingham.
- Villagers were evacuated in the Cairngorms.
The government has said it is investing nearly £100m to improve national resilience capabilities, including piloting specially trained firefighting teams.
UK 'not prepared for the changing climate'
As far back as 2012, the independent CCC warned of "more frequent wildfires due to warmer and drier conditions."
File on 4 Investigates has seen figures from the National Fire Chiefs Council showing that 2026 set a new all-time high, with 1,350 wildfires in England and Wales—up by more than 300 on last year and over 1,000 on 2024. Records for the number of reported wildfires were also broken in 2022 and 2025.
Baroness Brown said the CCC, formed in 2008, has been telling the government for years that the UK is "not prepared for the changing climate." She continued:
"The warnings have been there and not enough action has been taken. I fear that lives will be lost. We need to be doing much more education and preparation."
She said this includes investing in specialist teams and equipment, as well as planning woodlands, creating fire breaks, and implementing early warning systems. By 2050, she predicts the risk of wildfires could double across much of the UK.
File on 4 Investigates looks at whether the country is prepared for the growing threat and if emergency services have adequate resources to cope.
'No-one should have this experience'
Uttam and Sandy Shiralkar are still processing the loss of their family home in Stourbridge after it was engulfed by a wildfire in August.
Sandy, a surgeon, described the scene: "We saw the complete destruction of the house. There was no roof, no floorboards. Nothing. No-one should have this experience."
The fires started accidentally in fields in Stourbridge where farming machinery was in use on the hottest day of the year. The couple are now living in temporary accommodation while their home is rebuilt. Uttam said: "Every loss is painful, but losing a house has got a different dimension. Coming back to normality is going to take a long time."
Fire crews dangerously overstretched
While wildfire risk increases, the number of firefighters has been declining.
Steve Wright, general secretary of the Fire Brigades Union, which represents firefighters, said more than a fifth of firefighter and control room posts across England are unfilled.