Fire chiefs sound alarm over water availability for firefighting

(by Karma Loveday)

Fire chiefs have warned of growing risks to public safety from insufficient water supplies.

In a new position statement on Water Supplies for Firefighting, the National Fire Chiefs Council (NFCC) urged that water for firefighting to be recognised as a critical public safety requirement. It also argued that fire and rescue services should be formally recognised as key stakeholders in the future regulation and planning of the water sector.

This followed research exposing a series of serious issues: 

• A summer 2026 NFCC survey found 81% of fire services had to change their incident response plans where access to water at necessary flows and pressure was difficult. Half introduced additional measures because of significant water supply outages. A high profile example was West Midlands Fire Service during the Stourbridge wildfire. Firefighters had to rely on a high volume pumping unit to help maintain supplies, while replenishing a water carrier took almost 40 minutes at one stage because of reduced pressure.

• Fire and rescue services also reported delays in the installation and repair of firefighting infrastructure, and inconsistent engagement from water companies on this. 

• There are also rising costs to contend with. Hydrant installation and maintenance charges increased by an average of 85% between 2014 and 2024, NFCC said, with fire services reporting limited transparency over how those costs are calculated.

Fire chiefs want clear national standards for firefighting water provision; stronger accountability for water companies; greater transparency around hydrant charges; improved consideration of firefighting water needs in planning decisions; and better access to water network information to support emergency response. It said forthcoming water sector reforms provide the opportunity to improve resilience and ensure firefighting requirements are properly reflected in future infrastructure and investment decisions.

It noted also that the backdrop is growing pressures from climate change, drought, population growth, housing development and emerging infrastructure such as data centres and battery energy storage systems. These are increasing demand on an already stretched water network.