Inadequate water supplies “creating growing risks for public” warns NFCC

The NFCC’s new Position Statement on ‘Water Supplies for Firefighting’ highlights increasing concerns about the reliability, affordability and resilience of the infrastructure firefighters depend on to protect communities.

A survey of UK Fire and Rescue Services, conducted by the NFCC in the middle of the year, found that 81% of respondents had changed their planned level of response in areas with known difficulties when it comes to accessing sufficient firefighting water. The findings also revealed that more than 50% of Fire and Rescue Services had introduced additional measures due to significant water supply outages.

The operational impact of these challenges was highlighted during this summer’s major wildfire in Stourbridge. The West Midlands Fire Service experienced ongoing issues with water pressure over several days. During the height of the incident, firefighters had to rely on a High-Volume Pumping Unit to help maintain water supplies, while replenishing a water carrier took almost 40 minutes at one stage due to reduced pressure.

Water company representatives were deployed to the scene and joined multi-agency briefings as firefighting crews continued to manage fluctuating supplies throughout the incident.

Fire and Rescue Services have reported concerns including inadequate water flow and pressure from hydrants, delays in the installation and repair of firefighting infrastructure, inconsistent engagement from water companiesVand rising costs associated with hydrant maintenance and replacement.

NFCC evidence shows that hydrant installation and maintenance charges increased by an average of 85% between 2014 and 2024, with Fire and Rescue Services reporting limited transparency over how those costs are calculated.

Critical public safety requirement

The NFCC is now calling for water for firefighting to be recognised as a critical public safety requirement and also for Fire and Rescue Services to be formally recognised as key stakeholders in the future regulation and planning of the water sector.

NFCC chair Phil Garrigan commented: “Firefighters cannot fight fires without water. That sounds obvious, yet our evidence shows four in every five Fire and Rescue Services have had to change response plans due to their concerns about firefighting water supplies.”

Garrigan continued: “We saw the impact of these challenges during the Stourbridge wildfires when issues with water pressure created additional operational difficulties for crews tackling a major incident.”

Further, Garrigan stated: “The demands placed on Fire and Rescue Services are growing, with larger wildfires, extreme weather and increasingly complex risks. As the task becomes more challenging, the very least firefighters should be able to rely on is access to the water they need to protect people and property.”

The NFCC’s Position Statement warns that growing pressures from climate change, drought, population growth, housing development and emerging infrastructure such as Data Centres and battery energy storage systems are increasing demand on what’s an already stretched water network. 

Clear national standards

The NFCC is calling for clear national standards for firefighting water provision, stronger accountability for water companies, greater transparency around hydrant charges, improved consideration of firefighting water needs in planning decisions and, what’s more, better access to water network information to support emergency response.

According to the NFCC, forthcoming water sector reforms provide an important opportunity to improve resilience and ensure that firefighting requirements are properly reflected in future infrastructure and investment decisions.

*Further information is available online at www.nfcc.org.uk