Four-Legged Friends Recruited by Surrey Fire & Rescue Service to Prevent Wildfires
Surrey Fire & Rescue Service are recruiting new four-legged members to join their wildfire teams.
Their K9 Fire Patrol is run by their Wildfire and Rural Prevention Officers and aims to help raise awareness and reduce the danger of wildfires across the county.
They provide eyes, ears and wagging tails that create conversation about wildfires and their owners are able to report back any risks they may come across.
One of the patrol's latest recruits is owned by Volunteer Manager Martin Foote. 18-month-old Maple is attending patrols in her fluorescent jacket to deliver a wildfire prevention message.
Martin told us:
"The role of the Wildfire Volunteers is to engage if they feel it is appropriate to do so. The role is to feedback the information so it can be passed on to the relevant people in order to manage those trends and to keep our open spaces safe.
"Maple has become one of our team members joining us on patrol walks. The dogs aren't specially trained, they are an engagement piece.
"The jackets that we provide our dogs and our walkers with are a conversation starter and they get people invested in what's going on."
Wildfires can start in open green spaces for a variety of reasons including barbecues and campfires.
Surrey Fire & Rescue Services' Rural Affairs Manager Spencer Nicholls is one of those in charge or responding to wildfires.
He said:
"Unfortunately these things can get into the vegetation and spread quite rapidly. It's then down to the fire service to find a method of supressing that fire.
"We've got some good feedback that dog walkers and people walking in general are the main reason that people access our open areas.
"We thought, well, everyone loves a dog, put them in a high-vis jacket and then we can start our engagement and opens up our conversation about wildfires and open spaces."
If you're interested in volunteering for the K9 Fire Patrol, email sfvs@surreycc.gov.uk where you can find out more about the programme and how to get involved.