Service called to more than 250 wildfires this year

A fire service is asking residents to do their part in preventing fires in the open, as it reveals it has already responded to more than 250 this year.

Royal Berkshire Fire and Rescue Service (RBFRS) said several of those incidents had met the National Fire Chiefs Council's (NFCC) wildfire criteria, which includes "a committed resource of at least four fire and rescue service appliances or resources".

NFCC said wildfires had become "an increasingly common" part of fire and rescue service responses as the UK climate becomes more extreme.

RBFRS prevention manager Gail Muirhead said that due to the current hot and dry conditions residents were asked not to have bonfires at the moment.

NFCC said there was no single definition of what constitutes a wildfire and categorisation varies across different agencies but added that even a small fire could be the cause.

Part of its guidance on wildfire definition also lists fires involving a geographical area of at least one hectare (10,000 sq m) and a sustained flame length of more than 1.5 metres (4.9 ft).

Multiple resources with at least six hours of commitment are also required.

RBFRS station manager Alex Holbrook said outdoor fires in fields, forests or scrublands sometimes pulled in crews for days at a time.

"We've seen more large-scale outdoor fires – incidents involving more than four fire engines – this summer than in the previous five years," he said.

"While we have the specialist equipment and staff to respond to these sorts of fires, preventing them altogether allows us to more effectively respond to incidents elsewhere."

RBFRS said the risk of fire in Berkshire remained "very high" as per the Fire Safety Index.

It is asking people to "take extra care to protect the countryside" this summer.

"When conditions are hot and dry, just a small spark is enough to start a large fire outdoors," Muirhead said.

"We've already seen several incidents where bonfires have gotten out of control and spread to surrounding fields, gardens and even homes."

The rescue provides advice on what to do to prevent fires in the open, such as extinguishing cigarettes and other smoking materials properly and avoiding the use of disposable barbecues in extremely dry conditions.