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Prince William has called the prospect of future UK fires “terrifying”, as he commended Welsh firefighters for saving lives and described their response as “a hell of an effort”.
The Prince of Wales made an unannounced visit to frontline South Wales Fire and Rescue Service crews in Treherbert in October to pass on his personal thanks.
He viewed drones used by teams to locate and monitor blazes, while hearing how local residents and volunteers joined forces to combat the destructive fires.
According to BBC Wales, the prince admitted to emergency firefighters that this summer was the first “where I’ve felt generally worried about the scale of the wildfires in the country”.
He added: “We might go again next season… it’s quite a terrifying prospect if we’re not… on the ball.”
William also highlighted the lack of availability of firefighting aircraft, saying that “the need for aerial assets has been hoisted quite high up in Government” as an area “we’re lacking”.
Wales experiences around 60% of all UK wildfires, and dealt with four major incidents in the summer, with 14 consecutive incidents at one time in August and fire zones in more than 50 locations.
The prince told the crews: “This is why I wanted to be here today to say thank you to all of you because it was a hell of an effort.
“I had loads of people talking to me about the fires through the summer and where they were on the news, watching it as well.
“It feels like this is something we are going to have to live with as a country, well as a world now probably in most cases, every summer but being prepared and knowing what we are facing is going to be crucial.”
He added: “You saved a lot of people’s houses, a lot of land, and …. a lot of lives saved as well. It was a gargantuan effort by all of you, so well done.”
The visit, which was not announced at the time, took place on the day William visited Aberfan with the King and Queen to commemorate the 60th anniversary of the disaster.
