Northumberland County Council - England & Wales Wildfire Forum (EWWF)

England & Wales Wildfire Forum (EWWF)

The England and Wales Wildfire Forum is a multi-agency stakeholder group of public, private and third-sector parties established to address wildfire issues.

The forum is a voluntary strategic body, independent of government, created to expand knowledge and understanding of wildfire, with the overall purpose of reducing the harmful impact of wildfires by promoting joint working and collaboration.

Contact us:

If you require any more information about the EWWF, or you would like to join the forum, please contact our secretary Robert Stacey either by phone or email:

Telephone: 01670 621167
Email: robert.stacey@northumberland.gov.uk

Wildfire risk during COVID-19

The COVID-19 pandemic is causing additional challenges for emergency services and other organisations involved in preventing, preparing for and responsing to wildfires. Any wildfires that start will put even more pressure on fire and rescue services and other emergency services.

The EWWF is asking everyone to support the emergency services at this difficult time. Please follow the UK Government guidance - Stay Home - Protect the NHS - Save Lives.

The EWWF is also asking everyone to "Be responsible: Don't start fires".

The EWWF has released official statements related to wildfire risk during COVID-19:

Governance of the EWWF

EWWF chair:

Simon Thorp, consultant at the Heather Trust.
The role of the chairperson will be reviewed annually.

EWWF vice-chair:

Dewi Rose, assistant chief fire officer at South Wales Fire and Rescue Service.
The role of the vice chairperson will be reviewed annually.

EWWF secretary:

Robert Stacey, wildfire project officer at Northumberland Fire and Rescue Service.

The EWWF is governed according to the following key principles:

Legal status	The forum holds no legal status. Members will collectively deliver the forum’s aims, and will address wildfire issues.
Membership	A standing representative can be nominated to attend forum meetings. New members (via invitation or application) will be admitted at the discretion of existing members. Additional representatives from member organisations can also be co-opted at the discretion of existing members.
Meetings	Held annually, as agreed with members. Additional meetings may be held where necessary.
Work groups	Work groups are established to undertake tasks of a specific nature as identified by the forum. Membership will consist of experts in the identified task(s), who shall then nominate a leader.
Administrarion	Undertaken by the chairperson and an appointed secretariat.
Budget	Membership is voluntary, but membership organisations can make a small annual contribution to forum running costs. Additional funding will be progressed through partnership arrangements.
Voting	Efforts will be made to reach decisions by consensus. Where a vote is required, each member will have one vote and decisions will be taken on the basis of a simple majority. Where it is necessary to take a vote in between meetings, an electronic vote can be administered.
Reporting	The forum will produce reports for public circulation as appropriate.
Relationships	Close working links will be made with the following groups: CFOA Wildfire Group Scottish Wildfire Forum
Recognition	Full recognition will be given to the support of each member.
Withdrawal from the forum	After handing in a written notice to the chairperson, members are entitled to withdraw from the forum.
Review	The forum will conduct progress reports on the delivery of its aims and objectives on a regular basis.

The forum will review progress on delivery of its aims and objectives on a regular basis.

EWWF membership

Members of the EWWF represent a number of key groups and organisations:

Grouping	Organisation
Governmental	Home Office (Lead government department for wildfire) Civil Contingencies Secretariat, Cabinet Office Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs (DEFRA) Welsh Assembly Government
Representative organisations	Country Land & Business Association (CLA) Fire Brigades Union (FBU) Heather Trust Moorland Association Scottish Wildfire Forum National Gamekeepers Organisation British Association for Shooting and Conservation
Fire & rescue service	National Fire Chief's Council (NFCC) Wildfire Group Defence Fire and Rescue Service Northumberland Fire and Rescue Service South Wales Fire and Rescue Service
Government agencies	Defence Fire Service Forestry Commission England Met Office Natural England Natural Resources Wales Network Rail
National parks and local authorities	English National Park Authorities Local Government Association (LGA) Peak District National Park Authority Northumberland National Park Authority
Charity organisations	Woodland Trust
Research institutions	Manchester University Leverhulme Centre for Wildfires, Environment and Society Royal Holloway University of London
Special interest groups	Lancashire Fire Operations Group (FOG) Northumberland Fire Group (NFG) Peak District Fire Operations Group (FOG) South East England Wildfire Group (SEEWG) Urban Heaths Partnership (UHP)
Infrastructure and utilities	Arqiva Network Rail United Utilities

If you would like to join the EWWF, then please call us on 01670 621167, or email our secretary Robert Stacey at robert.stacey@northumberland.gov.uk.

The EWWF and Moorland Association have developed a short training course for land managers who may find themselves working alongside Fire and Rescue personnel at wildfires.

The aim of the training is to enhance understanding between the land management sector and Fire and Rescue Services and to promote safe systems of work at wildfire incidents for the benefit of all.

The training consists of a PDF document which will be of interest to a wide range of land managers, including estate workers, game keepers, farmers, forestry workers, countryside rangers etc. At the end of the presentation there is a link to a short online assessment so that you can confirm your understanding of key elements of the training.

Please click this link to access the presentation and to complete the training course.

The forum helps to organise and support wildfire events. Further details about current and previous events, supported by the forum, are shown below:

Wildfires 2019 Conference - 20 and 21 November 2019
The two-day conference focussed on the theme of 'Manage the Fuel, Reduce the Risk', and brought together:

land managers.
fire and rescue services.
academic researchers.
environmental organisations.
planners and policy-makers.

They are involved in:

the prevention, mitigation and suppression of wildfires.
the management of wild, and prescribed fires.
evaluating the ecological and societal effects of fire, both in the UK and overseas.

Please click here for more information about 'Manage the Fuel, Reduce the Risk'.

The conference was extremely successful. The event was attended by 190 delegates from 15 countries and included 24 presentations, and 18 poster presentations. The event provided opportunities to share and discuss good practice on how effective and coordinated land management can have a positive impact on reducing the threat and consequences of wildfires.

View the Book of Abstracts from the UK Wildfire Conference 2019 here.

The EWWF would like to thank everyone involved in the event including the hosts at South Wales Fire and Rescue Service, all of the speakers and poster presenters, exhibitors, and all of the delegates.

Plans are now being developed to organise the next UK Wildfire Conference to take place in 2022 in Northern Ireland! Further information will be uploaded onto this webpage soon.

If you would like to find out more about the event, please contact the conference organisers via email at EWWF2019@southwales-fire.gov.uk.

Keynote Presentations and Speakers

Day 1 Keynote Presentations

Marc Castellnou
Associated Professor. University of Lleida

Member of the emergency and forest fires round table of ESRI Europe. 2011-2013
Developer of wildfire analysis tool using particle random approach CPS and EMSYX. Los Angeles, USA. First place in the world wind challenge, NASA. Florence, June 2013.
Developer of wildfire analysis and simulation tools with Wildland Fire Analyst Tecnosylva. Leon, Spain/San Diego, USA
Member of Advisory group for CREAF (Center of Ecology Research in Forestry and Agriculture of University Autonoma of BCN)
Keynote Presentation: "Extreme wildfire events in Atlantic Europe"

Carlos Júlio Trindade
Municipal Coordinator of the Municipal Civil Protection Service and Director of the Municipal Heliport

Forestry Technical Office of the Municipality of Mafra
Completed a number of specialised courses in several areas, including pedagogical training of trainers, Controlled Fire Course – ICNF, Training Course of Higher Technical of SHST
Organisational member of Stakeholder Committee of SURE project - SUstaining and Enhancing REsilience of European Forests - European Forest Institute
Keynote Presentation: "Wildfire risk management: Mafra County Case Study"

Matthew Perry
Senior Applied Scientist at the Met Office

Has worked at the Met Office for 16 years, starting as a climatologist developing key datasets for the UK, before changing his focus to helping customers to understand the impacts of weather and climate on their operations or infrastructure and adapt to future climate change.
He has also spent two years working at CSIRO in Australia on solar energy applications.
Keynote Presentation: "Past and future fire weather hazard for the UK"

Day 2 Keynote Presentations

Ron Steffens
Faculty (Prescott College) & Incident Commander/Fire Analyst (Grand Teton National Park)

Teaches and develops graduate courses and programs with a focus on emergency and environmental communications
Wildland Fire Manager for the National Park Service (based at Grand Teton National Park)
Chair of Wildfire Magazine's editorial board and currently serves as executive editor of (IAWF) Wildfire Magazine
Keynote Presentation: "What we mean when we say fuels: Finding the story of fuels in ourwork and media"

Claire Belcher, Professor of Wildland Fire
Director of the University of Exeter wildFIRE Lab

Presentation during EWWF conference was developed with collaboration from Andy Elliott (WildfireTaC), Ania Losiak (University of Exeter) and Gareth Clay (University of Manchester)
Keynote Presentation: "Joining Fire and Rescue Services with scientists to better understand wildfire"

Alex Held
Senior Expert within the Resilience Programme at the European Forest Institute (EFI)

Alex works on the establishment of the European Forest Risk Facility, where the exchange of expertise and knowledge, mutual assistance and cooperation in Europe is the tool to create more resilient landscapes. He was also involved in the “Integrate” projects at EFI, dealing with disturbance and biodiversity in managed forests.
His interest and expertise is in fire, silviculture and deer management.
Keynote Presentation: "Why is Fire-Smart not happening?"

Speakers, Presentations and Posters

Day 1 - Presentations and Speakers

Simon Thorp - "EWWF Opening Address"

Day 2 - Presentations and Speakers

Conference Posters

Zachary Campbell-Lochrie – The role of fuel loading and structure on the physical phenomena that control the flame spread process
Oscar Kennedy Blundell – Pyrogenic carbon formation and degradation in UK peatland catchments
Anna Losiak – Burning trash for science: Using waste to monitor wildfire energies
Rosie Watts – The influence of people on wildfire occurrence in an area in South Wales with a high proportion of human ignitions
Janis Donis – Adaptation of Canadian forest fire danger rating system in Latvia
David Cross – Key statistics on wildfires in England
Sergio Prats – Effectiveness of community based initiatives for mitigation of land degradation after wildfire
Duncan Blake – Mapping wildfire occurrence, extent and severity in Scotland using remote sensing: Some recent advances
Ashleigh Parker - Wildfire research in the Brecon Beacons National Park: fuels, recovery rates and management implications.

The forum holds meetings at least two times per year to discuss wildfire issues of national importance. All members are invited to attend, provide briefings and contribute agenda items for discussion.

The forum also invites non-members to attend meetings to deliver presentations and participate in specific discussions. If you would like to attend a future meeting of the EWWF, please click here to see our contact information.

Archived EWWF meeting agendas

Meeting agendas

The EWWF is involved in a number of ongoing activities and projects related to wildfire prevention, preparedness, response and recovery. Please see below for some of the key activities and projects involving the EWWF and its members:

Wildfire Statement from the England and Wales Wildfire Forum
The EWWF produced a wildfire statement in May 2020 The statement outlined the current state of play for wildfires in England and Wales and identified some key areas for improvement. You can read a copy of the statement here - EWWF Wildfire Statement - May 2020

Wildfire Workshop Report
The EWWF organised and facilitated a wildfire workshop on behalf of DEFRA on 8th February 2019. The workshop was held in Nottingham and involved wildfire stakeholders from around the country. The aim of the workshop was to discuss and capture the key lessons learned from wildfire incidents that took place in 2018.

See the final Report from the Wildfire Workshop on 8th February 2019 here.

EWWF Activity Reports
See the report on EWWF activities from January to March 2017 here.

EWWF newsletters

This section provides copies of newsletters previously published and circulated by the EWWF:

The EWWF has collected a number of case studies of wildfire incidents and good practice. These case studies are provided below as a source of information and inspiration:

Please click on the links below to view our case studies:

Case Studies from Northumberland:

Case Study from South Wales:

Case Studies from Dorset:

Case Study from South East England:

Marlow Wildfire - July 2018

Case Study from Staffordshire:

Dimmingsdale Wildfire - July 2018

The EWWF maintains close links with a number of other key wildfire stakeholder groups and projects around the UK, including:

National Fire Chief's Council (NFCC) wildfire group
Knowledge for Wildfire project (KfWf)
Scottish Wildfire Forum
Northern Ireland Wildfire Stakeholders Forum

The EWWF also maintains close links with international partners:

We work with colleagues in the Republic of Ireland
the Pau Costa Foundation (Spain)
the Netherlands National Wildfire Project

To facilitate and drive national activities related to wildfires, the EWWF liaises closely with regional and local wildfire groups to drive national activities related to wildfires. The key purpose of maintaining these links is to look for and promote cooperation, collaboration and synergy on wildfire issues across England and Wales.

There are at least 16 local/regional groups in England and Wales that are currently addressing wildfire issues, including:

Northumberland Fire Group
Peak District Fire Operations Group
Urban Heaths Partnership
Cumbria Fire Group
Commons Vision/Gower Wildfire Group
Durham and Darlington Wildfire Group
Healthy Hillsides Project, Wales
Home Counties Wildfire Group
Lancashire Fire Operations Group
North Yorkshire Wildfire Group
North York Moors Fire Liaison Group
Pembrokeshire Wildfire Group
Pennine Wildfire Working Group
Sky Lantern and Balloon Releases in Dorset Working Group
South East of England Wildfire Group
South East Wales Upland Resilience Project
South Pennines Fire Operations Group

The EWWF can provide advice and support to existing local wildfire groups. Please click here for our contact information, and let us know what you need and we will try to help.

Help and support for creating new local wildfire groups
Local wildfire groups perform a key role in bringing together a variety of stakeholders to address wildfire risk and issues at local level. The EWWF can provide help, advice and support for anyone looking to create a new local wildfire group.

Please click here for our contact information, and let us know what you need and we will try to help.