Fire crews were mobilised to tackle more than 100 grass blazes across Merseyside during last week’s heatwave.
Merseyside Fire and Rescue Service (MFRS) confirmed officers were required to deal with 101 fires on grassland during the hot weather between Wednesday and Sunday across the region. Stationed officers were not the only ones facing challenges during the rising temperatures, as control room operatives fielded almost 1,000 emergency calls during the same period.
Chief fire officer Phil Garrigan described the call handlers as the “unsung heroes” during the hotter period. Data released by MFRS confirmed that Saturday proved to be the most challenging day of the hot weather with 28 grass fires attended across Merseyside - double the amount just 24 hours earlier.
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A further 25 were reported on Sunday, with 17 dealt with in the region on both last Wednesday and Thursday. A similar pattern emerged as the service’s control room fielded 897 calls during the five hottest days.
As with their colleagues, operators faced a busy Saturday with 232 calls placed to handlers. The weekend proved to be a challenging period for the service, with more than 200 emergency calls taken on Friday while 191 on Sunday.
On Wednesday and Thursday, 168 calls were 999 were answered by control room operators. During last month’s hot weather, the fire service said it dealt with a number of deliberate blazes and called on people to behave responsibly.
Chief fire officer Phil Garrigan said: “The hot weather definitely brings its challenges and while it was another busy period for our teams, we were slightly less affected than in some parts of the country where it has been really tough going. That said our control room mobilised crews to over 100 grass fires between the 10-14th August and our firefighters worked tirelessly over the period to minimise the impact on our communities.
“Our control room team has also been involved in coordinating the national response to the wildfires affecting the UK in our broader national role, often the unsung heroes during incidents such as these. They have done a great job managing the demands placed on the service.
“I would like to thank those members of the public who changed their behaviour over this period, the conditions were tinder dry and fire spread inevitable should it have gotten hold.”
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