Kent Fire and Rescue Service
Appendix 1 to CRMP 2025- 2029 Strategy update and Next Steps

We have invested in specialist protective clothing for our firefighters, specifically designed for combating wildfires.

This new personal protective equipment (PPE) consists of a lightweight jacket and trousers that provide protection from heat and fire but is also designed to be less heavy and bulky than our traditional ‘structural’ firefighting PPE. This helps to reduce fatigue and heat stress on our firefighters. It also helps to extend the life of the more expensive structural PPE by reducing unnecessary wear and tear. We have now issued this PPE to all our operational colleagues and its use will become operational in time for summer this year.

Access to wildfires can be difficult, especially with our fire engines, which are not designed to go off road and can be easily damaged.

We have therefore invested in four new Utility Task Vehicles (UTVs). These are small off-road vehicles that can be used to transport firefighting personnel or equipment. They are transported to incidents in a large van, unlike the8x8 multi-terrain vehicles, which we previously used and transported to incidents on a trailer. The new UTVs and vans require less training input, saving money and maximising colleague time for other activities.

1. We have given our colleagues additional hand tools (such as mattocks) to allow them to create firebreaks (cutting away vegetation to stop fire spreading).
2. We have also invested in high powered leaf blowers that can be used to rapidly blow out grass fires, rather than having to deploy hoses or beat out fires. This will reduce the time spent at these incidents, as well as reducing the physical demands on our firefighters. These will be operational from summer 2025.
3. We have been focusing on providing additional specialist training to our colleagues. We now have a team of specialist wildfire tactical advisors. These officers are trained in advanced wildfire firefighting tactics and can be deployed in Kent, and across the UK. We also have a trained wildfire lead in our control room team – helping to anticipate the resource demands of a wildfire incident at an early stage.
4. Our rural communities are those that are most at risk from wildfire. Fires in field and woodland close to homes can result in property damage and the need to evacuate residents. Water supplies in rural areas can often be more limited in both coverage and the amount of water available. To address this risk, we are working with landowners and communities to better manage green spaces. We also want to develop specific wildfire plans for our most vulnerable communities. We have included these specific measures for addressing wildfire risks in our most isolated communities in our Rural Plan, presented here in appendix XX