Around 200 military personnel have been deployed to South Wales to support emergency services tackling ten large fires, with troops providing logistics, planning support and assistance in difficult terrain.
Around 200 military personnel have been deployed to South Wales to support emergency services responding to ten large wildfires across the region, the UK Defence Journal understands.
The deployment followed a request from South Wales Fire and Rescue Service for logistical, operational and planning assistance as firefighting crews dealt with multiple major incidents. According to information released alongside Ministry of Defence imagery, around 100 personnel were initially sent to the area, with a further 100 expected to follow as the response was expanded.
The troops were drawn from one of the UK’s three standby battalions, which are maintained at high readiness to provide military assistance to emergency services and local authorities during major incidents. Personnel from 10 Queen’s Own Gurkha Logistic Regiment are involved in the operation, with headquarters support being provided by 22 Royal Engineers.
The military’s principal task is logistical rather than frontline firefighting as soldiers are supporting the distribution of water and moving equipment, supplies and personnel between locations, allowing firefighters and specialist responders to concentrate on tackling the fires themselves. Military teams are also assisting emergency services in reaching remote and difficult terrain, where moving sufficient personnel and equipment can present an additional challenge during a large-scale response.
Images released by Defence on 15 August show soldiers from 10 Queen’s Own Gurkha Logistic Regiment observing preparations by fire and rescue personnel before operations against the fires. The deployment is intended to increase the capacity available behind the frontline response, particularly where water, equipment and other supplies have to be moved rapidly between dispersed locations.
10 Queen’s Own Gurkha Logistic Regiment forms part of the Royal Logistic Corps and provides logistic support to military operations. In South Wales, those capabilities are being applied in support of the civilian emergency response, with troops helping to maintain the movement of resources while fire crews remain committed to tackling the incidents.
The involvement of 22 Royal Engineers at headquarters level also provides additional planning and coordination capacity.
What a totally different outcome from that requested from north of the Border a few days ago, which you also reported on.
Strange how two devolved governments go about things, or was it different because this request came from the Fire Service
The Scottish case was that they specifically asked for firebombing Chinooks, which weren’t available. Troops are much easier to find.
Fire bombing Chinooks are a quick and easy fix . The fact that the only two so equipped Chinooks were deployed to Cyprus is not the fault of the Chinook force or the RAF. . The Chinooks are no different from any other in UK service and the fire bombing kit requires no internal modification in any way at all . It is all underslung. The only oversight was on the part of the planners at JFHQ. We have never experienced wildfire on this scale in the UK and no one saw it coming. The fire bombing kit is basically a big bladder slung under the aircraft and all our Chinooks are capable of carrying it. Hopefully by next year we will own and be able to deploy many more big rubber bags.
Hopefully Cobra takes some concrete action along those lines, beyond a temporary ban on disposable BBQs.
Pongolo, If ‘no one saw it coming’ is it fair to blame the planners at JFHQ for their oversight?
Should JFHQ in future plan for the possibility that the Forces will be asked to help put out wildfires by aerial waterbombing? …or should it be for County Council (or the Home Office) ‘Resilience/Disaster Planning’ staff to scope the requirement and brief JFHQ of their future needs and to provide funding for MoD to source the kit that might be required?
I thought the fire fighting capability in Cyprus was a treaty obligation on the MOD, so it has to have it their within its own resource. MACA is done at best effort with whatever is available. If the government hasn’t tasked the MOD to have a standby bucket capability for UK resilience why would it? What other task that it’s not been told to do should the MOD spend money on just in case someone needs it?
Isn’t this only the second year Chinooks have deployed for the task? With the Bells and Pumas covering it previously. Assume the new H145s will take it on from now?
Good job,
the Scots Nats would have called it an invasion if they had deployed them in Scotland!