William calls threat of wildfires ‘terrifying’ on visit to see Welsh fire crews

The Prince of Wales has branded the prospect of more UK wildfires “terrifying” as he praised firefighters in Wales for saving lives, describing their work as “a hell of an effort”.

William paid an unannounced visit to frontline fire crews from the South Wales Fire and Rescue Service in Treherbert in October to thank them for their work.

He was shown the drones they used to identify and track blazes, and met volunteers and members of the community to hear about they came together to tackle the devastating fires.

The prince told firefighters this summer was the first “where I’ve felt generally worried about the scale of the wildfires in the country”, BBC Wales reported.

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.