‘Environmental Risk’ comprises two distinct elements. The first of these refers to the risks present in our local communities as a result of a changing climate. Hotter drier summers may lead to an increase in grassland fires and water shortages while warmer, wetter winters are likely to lead to increased incidents of flooding. All of these represent new challenges for West Midlands Fire Service as we are called to respond to escalating numbers of climate related incidents in order to keep the West Midlands safe.
We are currently in the process of completing a project in partnership with the Meteorological Office into the predicted effects of climate change and its associated risks in our brigade area in order to ensure we are prepared for the future. This project is due to be completed by June 2010 when key findings will be made available on this site.
The second element is the impact that West Midlands Fire Service as an organisation has on the environment. As well as reducing the number of fires across the brigade (to minimise emissions of Carbon Dioxide, methane and other combustion products that are harmful to the atmosphere), we are working hard to reduce our own carbon footprint (ensuring that the amount of energy, fuel and water used is done so in an efficient and sustainable way).
We are also working with partners such as the Birmingham and Black Country Wildlife Trust, to ensure that ecologically significant sites are considered from an operational perspective and protected (through prevention based activity) from the effects of fire and firefighting, or other events that have the potential to cause significant damage to environmentally significant sites.
We have established a risk information system called site risk identification for our firefighters, so that they are able to collate relevant information about the areas they serve, enabling them to plan for emergency incidents in advance and to access vital information during an emergency, to help them deal with it in the most safe and effective manner.
