Polanski backs Fire Union as climate-stoked wildfires ravage UK

It’s getting harder and harder for climate deniers to refute what’s happening to the planet. Well – that’s not true – these people are liars who will literally say anything. It is getting harder for them to convince anyone they’re correct, though.

The latest example of the climate catastrophe making itself obvious is the record-breaking heat we’ve experienced, and the inevitable wildfires which followed. The Fire Brigades Union have spoken out about how the situation affects them, with Greens leader Zack Polanski supporting them:

The climate crisis is not a distant threat.

It's here. And it's happening now.

And our Fire Brigade on the frontline of it are asking for help. https://t.co/Nl8GV79S1k

— Zack Polanski (@ZackPolanski) July 14, 2026

Raging

To head off some potential pushback, climate change isn’t what’s starting the fires; it’s what’s allowing them spread so rapidly and extensively. Climate change makes extreme drought more likely, and with drought comes the conditions needed for raging wildfires.

In the clip above, Steve Wright of the Fire Brigades Union says:

There’s wildfires all across the UK at the moment; a major incident in North Wales… we’ve seen our members on the front line in East and West Sussex; we’ve seen them on the front line attending fires in London, Derbyshire, all across the UK at the moment, and this is a an ever-increasing risk that firefighters are dealing with.

We’ve been raising the alarm for a number of years… they are ferocious fires. They are resource heavy. You need firefighters on the ground quickly to deal with them, but as you’ve already highlighted these are impacting in communities. The smoke from these fires travel long distances, and the one in North Wales is all across Merseyside… really worrying times…

we’re making the case that there needs to be further investment so communities are better prepared – there’s more resilience in our communities, and to respond to these incidents.

Resources

When asked if firefighters have the resources they need, Wright answered:

Well, no, is the honest answer. We’ve lost 12,000 firefighters since 2010. And there has been investment in new equipment, new policies, and procedures of how we train and deal with wildfires, but you need firefighters to deal with these incidents… And that is an issue that we’re finding all across the UK.

In 2022, remember – what we thought was the real hot summer – when we saw whole streets in London burning. It was the busiest day for London Fire Brigade since the Blitz. But major incidents are now being called regularly.

When asked what the primary cause of these fires is, Wright said:

Well, there’s lots of ways that fires will start. I think the issue that we see now is that wildfires grow at the ferocity… they do now because of the dry land. We haven’t had rain for a couple of weeks in most areas, and fires are able to grow exponentially and out of control, whereas in the past they wouldn’t have grown as quickly as they do…

also we have slower response times in the fire service now; slower response times than we had in the mid-1990s. So it’s taken us longer to get to these incidents; less firefighters on the ground to deal with them. So it’s a combination of issues.

Climate action, now

While some politicians still deny it’s happening, the impacts of climate change are increasingly obvious. Fires are just one such example, and unless the government supports our firefighters, lives will be lost.

Beyond that, we need to remain committed to the global push to ensure this planet and its people have a future. The alternative is this all goes up in flames.

Featured image via the Canary