The UK government will set up a Wildfires AI Unit to help spot and fight fires faster, following the country's hottest summer on record. Prime Minister Andy Burnham is set to announce the plan at England's first wildfire summit on Friday, The Guardian reported.
The unit will sit inside the National Situation Centre, the government's crisis hub within the Cobr emergency committee rooms. It will bring together universities, tech firms and officials. The government's plan does not give a start date or a budget for the unit.
Google, Airbus and VodafoneThree are among the companies taking part in the summit. They are expected to discuss how satellite monitoring and early warning systems could help. Greece already uses AI-powered satellite technology for the same job.
The package also brings the military into wildfire response. For the first time, RAF Chinook helicopters and A400M transport planes will be fitted to fight wildfires. Fire services will be able to ask for them to be sent to remote moorland and steep hillsides.
Fire crews will also get up to £45m for specialist wildfire teams and lighter protective kit. Their current gear is built for fires in buildings and is not meant to be worn for long periods outdoors. More than half of the 29 fire and rescue services that answered a request said they lacked wildfire protective equipment, according to The Guardian.
Burnham said the country's firefighting “heroes shouldn't have to fight with one hand tied behind their backs.”
Peatland is another focus. The government will spend £25m restoring dried-out peatland in England so that it holds more water and acts as a natural firebreak. A grant scheme run by Natural England will cover April 2027 to April 2029, and farmers will get help to fireproof their land.
Ministers will also consider tougher local limits on starting fires when the risk is high, including bans on some products.
The threat has become harder to ignore. The Met Office found that climate change made this summer's extreme heat about 130 times more likely. In July, a wildfire on Dunwich Heath in Suffolk came within two miles of the Sizewell B nuclear power station, The Guardian reported.
Este artículo fue escrito con la asistencia de IA.
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