Firefighters attended thousands of flooding incidents in London last year, new figures show.
By Clara Margotin, Data Reporter
Firefighters attended thousands of flooding incidents in London last year, new figures show.
The Fire Brigades Union said environmental incidents like flooding will become increasingly common with climate change, and called on the Government for more investment “after more than a decade of cuts”.
New figures from the Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government show London Fire Brigade attended 8,113 flooding incidents in the year to December – up from 7,839 the year before, and from 6,886 five years ago.
It means there were 91 such incidents per 100,000 people.
Fire and rescue services across England were called to 16,934 flooding incidents last year – up just 1.3% on the previous year, but a 17% increase from five years ago.
Steve Wright, Fire Brigades Union general secretary, said climate change will result in flooding and other natural incidents being increasingly common, and called for more investment to keep people safe.
He said job cuts have resulted in the loss of one in five firefighters, adding further budget reductions were made this year by the Government, warning “that trend must urgently be reversed”.
Nationally, fire and rescue services attended a total of 600,185 fire and non-fire related incidents last year – up only 1.2% on the previous year, but a 20% increase over the last 10 years.
Mr Wright added: “We also need to address the fact that, in England, the fire and rescue service does not even have a statutory duty to respond to flooding.
“The Government can and should remedy this situation.”
An MHCLG spokesperson said: “Throughout the country, our firefighters continue to go above and beyond the call of duty to protect our communities, including during flooding and water rescue incidents.”
They said standalone fire and rescue authorities will receive a £65.5 million increase in core spending power this year. Including the national insurance contribution grant, this corresponds to a 3.6% increase on the previous year in cash terms.
“We will continue to work closely with stakeholders across the sector to ensure all services have the resources they need to protect communities at the highest standard,” they added.
