Agenda item

To consider item 15.

Group Commander – Service Delivery South advised Members that the current BFRS Response Strategy had been live since 2018 and was due to end in 2023. The strategy had been reviewed and officers were content that it was still fit for purpose for an extension period. A new response strategy could be written now, but with the CRMP consultation currently underway, and with the good engagement and information currently being heard from the community, it would be used to better understand future needs of the community. It was important that the response strategy aligns with this new CRMP. The risks for Buckinghamshire and Milton Keynes were being considered, work had progressed with the high rise response, wildfire provision and also engagement with battery energy storage systems  which were appearing across the county. There was also an Emerging Risk Group to look at risks within the area.

The Chairman asked that it be reviewed regularly if the circumstances around it changed. Part of the issue around this Response Strategy was that it was put in place in 2018 and should have been updated with the 2020 Public Safety Plan. When the CRMP was launched, the Response Strategy should be aligned to it.

A Member stated that his support for the recommendation was contingent on the Strategy being submitted to the Authority for review and approval in 12 months’ time.

A Member advised that some people who had solar panels had batteries in their houses. He knew the Service did risk assessments on commercial buildings but was the National Fire Chiefs Council (NFCC) doing anything about domestic properties. Should the solar panel companies have a database that could be accessible by the fire service.

The Group Commander - Service Delivery South advised that there was a lot of new technology coming out and the Service was beginning to gain information on larger solar farms, private installations. It collected certain amounts of information on domestic dwellings but not solar panels or lithium batteries in private houses.

The Data Intelligence Team Manager advised that after every incident the Service attended, Officers complete an incident report, which was currently being reviewed by the Home Office. This was probably their hottest topic on how this information was captured so that trends could be seen and pushed back onto the industries. It was also a hot topic for the NFCC too.

The Deputy Chief Fire Officer advised that there was a dedicated resource within the NFCC working on this whole area and there were a number of competing priorities around electric vehicles, e-scooters, e-bikes as these were the greatest risks moving forward, where people were charging them in hallways etc., there was a huge emerging risk around those areas. With regard to the domestic energy battery storage, there were companies that were very reputable, who do inform a register that the Service can access, but equally, people were buying batteries off ebay etc., and installing them themselves in airing cupboards, crews would not know what they were facing until they get there. The crews were well trained in identifying this and there was operational guidance in place around attending premises where there were solar panels and a potential for that risk to be there. Training packages were also being developed around battery energy storage systems and how to tackle those fires.

The Chairman asked if there was an awareness campaign that the Service could run about storage of solar panels etc. and provide advice to people on how they best protect themselves.

The Deputy Chief Fire Officer advised that it would form part of the Prevention Strategy moving forward. There were national campaigns, but this could also be look at locally as it was one of the emerging risks.

RESOLVED –

That the extension of the Response Strategy be approved, so that the strategy aligns with, and is informed by, the new Community Risk Management Plan (and be reviewed by the Authority in 12 months’ time)