Firefighting planes and barbecue bans needed to combat Britain’s wildfire risk, MPs warn

Dedicated air support and barbecue curbs urged as fire risk rises

Britain is facing a lengthening wildfire season, and MPs are pressing the government to arm the country for an era of fast-spreading blazes that can sweep across hundreds of acres before ground crews arrive. A cross-party group of MPs has called for dedicated firefighting aircraft and tighter controls on disposable barbecues across the countryside, arguing that the UK’s land-based fire service is increasingly outmatched when flames race through heathland, forest and farmland on hot, dry days.

The appeal, reported by Sky News, comes after a string of summer wildfires that have stretched fire crews from Cornwall to the Highlands. With temperatures climbing and vegetation drying out earlier each year, MPs say the UK can no longer rely on the old model of appliance-based response alone when a fire can cover several square miles in the time it takes to mobilise turfed-out farm tracks.

From moorland to aviation: the scale problem

Moors and national-park land, beloved for hiking and tourism, have become tinderboxes. Once a fire takes hold in gorse, heather or dry grass, wind can turn a local incident into a landscape emergency within minutes. MPs argue that aerial response — water bombers or retardant drops — would buy ground crews time and protect communities on the edge of open land.

Disposable barbecues, which can sit smouldering for hours after use, are singled out as an avoidable source of ignition. The proposal would extend the seasonal restrictions already applied in some national parks to a broader, legally-backed ban during declared high-risk periods.

Neighbouring European countries from France to Portugal already deploy aerial firefighting fleets as standard during summer peaks, a model MPs say the UK should mirror rather than reinvent. The ecological toll is stark: burnt heathland releases stored carbon and leaves soil vulnerable to erosion, with knock-on effects for the ground-nesting birds that call these hills home and for the grazing livestock that support the rural economy.

Critics caution that aircraft alone are no silver bullet. Experienced moorland firefighters point out that water drops help most in the first few minutes of a blaze, and that real suppression still depends on well-trained ground crews working safe access tracks. MPs acknowledge the balance — the ask is for augmentation, not replacement, of the appliance service that already turns out across the UK every summer.

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Why it matters

Wildfires destroy habitats, threaten rural communities, and now cost the public purse dearly in equipment, overtime and lost tourism days. For a government that fields emergency-services policy — Prime Minister Andy Burnham has made resilient response to climate-driven incidents a priority — the cost of being under-equipped is measured not just in pounds but in land and lives. A dedicated air fleet would also free coastguard and military helicopters for their primary search-and-rescue and defence work.

What happens next

The Environment Agency and the Home Office are expected to review the MPs’ recommendations over the autumn. Any new aircraft procurement cycle typically runs through the spring budget process, so a decision on dedicated firefighting planes is likely months away. In the meantime, fire authorities have repeated their plea to the public: check wind conditions, extinguish barbecues fully, and report smouldering vegetation early.