Climate change poses significant challenges for Gloucestershire, with rising incidents of flooding and wildfires. To address this, the Service is investing in specialist water rescue equipment, strategically positioned appliances, and water incident units, while hosting a HVP as part of the national response capability. Staff training continues to strengthen flood response. Work is underway to develop a robust wildfire strategy with bespoke assets and equipment, to address the identified emerging risk in the community risk profile.
The Service also recognises the benefits of Unmanned Aerial Vehicles (UAVs) and has agreements with partner agencies to deploy UAVs for wildfire operations, searches, and investigations. As technology advances, UAVs offer increasing potential, though licensing and training remain key considerations. Plans include exploring robotics for firefighting and rescue and improving ICT integration across the fleet to support mobile working and efficient service delivery.
The rollout of battery-powered RTC equipment will continue, enhancing rescue capability and versatility for crews. BA sets, now nearing the end of their operational lifecycle, will be replaced using a National Framework, incorporating the latest technology, including telemetry for improved firefighter safety. To address modern firefighting challenges, GFRS will introduce 22mm hose-reels on all fire engines, doubling water and cooling capacity for compartment fires.
Fire hydrants will be managed through the Fire Hydrant Management System, which integrates with appliance mobile data terminals, providing crews with real-time hydrant and risk information at incidents, significantly improving service delivery.
GFRS has developed a standardised appliance design through a cross-department working group to ensure vehicles are fit for purpose and meet community needs. These appliances will carry consistent equipment to address current and emerging risks. The design improves equipment stowage, creates a fully multi-functional fire and rescue appliance, and incorporates measures to reduce fire contaminants. New pumping appliance technology significantly lowers carbon emissions compared to previous models, supporting the Service's transition toward net-zero. The design also provides additional locker space and will be supported by updated training packages aligned with evolving operational requirements, while the Service continues exploring electric and hybrid solutions for future fleet development.
Whilst the Service continues to reduce its own carbon footprint by implementing electric vehicles, switching from diesel-powered light vehicles to hybrid technology to eliminate nitrogen oxide (NOX) emissions, the environmental changes continue to affect operational demands.
Vehicle related emissions are a significant contributor to carbon emissions within the Service, and as part of our ongoing commitments, reducing emissions from vehicles and improving the environmental performance of fleet vehicles remains a key aspect of revised aspirations for GFRS, as such we will seek to expand our electric vehicle charging infrastructure across GFRS sites to support the continued transition of officer response vehicles to hybrid technology whilst considering options for full electric response vehicles.