Our new column looking at developments in the jobs of firefighters
Though once relatively rare in the UK, the strength and number of wildfires in recent years has increased dramatically, rising to nearly 24,000 in 2022, double the number of the previous year.
Due to the large spike in grass and wildfires, Greater Manchester Fire and Rescue Service (GMFRS) sent their wildfire burns suppression team (otherwise known as the burns team) to Catalonia for intensive specialist training with the Catalonian Fire and Rescue Service (Bombers de la Generalitat) GRAF team.
The GRAF team is made up of wildfire specialists and world experts, and use fire as a tool to manage vegetation – called prescribed burning – and conduct tactical burns to create fire breaks, essentially “fighting fire with fire”.
The burns team underwent highly physical training, using trench tools to cut through strong vegetation.
GMFRS have since agreed to buy some of the tools used in training.
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