By Islam El-Sakka
Prince William has described the prospect of future wildfires in the UK as "terrifying" during an unannounced visit to frontline firefighters in South Wales. The Prince of Wales visited crews at Treherbert in October to thank them personally for their efforts during a summer that saw Wales handle around 60% of all UK wildfires.
Unannounced visit to Treherbert
William viewed drones used to locate and monitor blazes and heard how local residents and volunteers joined forces to combat destructive fires. According to BBC Wales, the prince admitted this summer was the first where he felt generally worried about the scale of wildfires in the country. “We might go again next season… it’s quite a terrifying prospect if we’re not… on the ball,” he told crews.
Call for more aerial assets
The prince highlighted a lack of firefighting aircraft, saying the need for aerial assets has been raised high in government as an area where the UK is lacking. Wales dealt with four major incidents over the summer, including 14 consecutive incidents at one time in August and fire zones in more than 50 locations.
Gratitude for lives saved
“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,” William said. “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.”
Aberfan commemoration same day
The visit, not announced at the time, took place on the same day William visited Aberfan with the King and Queen to commemorate the 60th anniversary of the 1966 disaster.
