Hampshire & Isle of Wight Fire and Rescue Service has revealed that they took over 700 heatwave-related emergency calls last year, including numerous here on the Isle of Wight.
Among the most serious incidents that occurred on the Island during the summer heatwave was a large-scale field fire that broke out in Ryde back in August, with fire appliances from Ryde, Newport, Shanklin and Ventnor mobilised to the scene.
Firefighters tackled the 100m x 100m blaze for around an hour with hose reel jets before they extinguished the flames just metres before they grabbed hold of nearby industrial units.
Other heatwave fires included incidents at Haylands, Gunville and Sandown in what was a very busy period for those working in the service.
The data also revealed that since 1st January 2022 the service responded to over 20,000 incidents including co-responder calls as well as completing almost 12,000 home fire safety visits.
Fire crews were again contacted around 600 times during Storm Eunice which battered the South Coast back in February.
Crews across the region also responded to over 500 kitchen fires and attended 900 road traffic incidents on roads in Hampshire and here on the Island in the year 2022.
Do these 700 calls include fires caused by arsonists?