UK to draft in military aircraft to fight wildfires, Burnham says
Andy Burnham says RAF aircraft will be on call for fire services as the UK hosts its first wildfire summit after a record summer of blazes.
Britain will call on military aircraft to fight wildfires, with the prime minister announcing that RAF planes and helicopters will be available to civilian fire services across all four nations.
Andy Burnham will set out the plan at the UK's first wildfire resilience summit on Friday, telling delegates the country "cannot put people through another summer like this." Fire crews will be able to request RAF Chinook helicopters and A400M transport aircraft, which have already practised water drops over Portland harbour and helped tackle blazes in Cyprus.
The move follows a record year for wildfires. Fire chiefs report 1,350 blazes in England and Wales so far this year, an all-time high, after summer 2026 became the hottest on record. Major incidents were declared at sites including Dunwich Heath, the Cairngorms, Hampshire and Holme Fen. In August the government called a Cobra meeting and sent emergency alerts to millions.
Defence Secretary Wes Streeting said it was the first time RAF aircraft had been formally made available for domestic firefighting, after some areas were left with no air support this summer.
Ministers also pledged £45m for specialist wildfire equipment, a £25m peatland restoration scheme, and a new Wildfires AI Unit linking universities, tech firms and officials. Burnham will meet fire chiefs, local leaders and tech experts at Friday's summit.
Source: BBC News — Top Stories — TrendWire reports stories in its own words; facts should be confirmed against the original source.