Since the end of July, there have been at least eight recorded large-scale fires in green spaces across the city of Sheffield. This has coincided with the driest summer on record for the UK and an official Met Office fire severity index, rating most of England and Wales as “very high” or “exceptional” risk.
Both the South Yorkshire Fire Service and Sheffield locals have reported seeing fires in Ponderosa park, Carbrook Ravine Nature Reserve, Richmond Heights and areas of the Peak District – green spaces students frequently use, especially during the summer months.
University of Sheffield student, Charlotte Warner, told Forge Press that she saw a fire in action that was put out by locals, showing that even in these times, the Sheffield community is committed to preserving and restoring its green space, whilst maintaining safety for everyone.
She said: “I witnessed a wildfire midday 19th August in Ponderosa Park. It was really sad to see as a normal walk turned into a call to the fire department. It all felt very weird and eerie.”
However, whilst waiting for the fire department to arrive, Charlotte witnessed “locals carrying empty milk cartons which they had filled with water and put out the fire completely.” She also witnessed that when walking through the rest of the park, there were “other long burnt patches where other fires occurred”, revealing this was not a one-off incident.
As the amount of recorded wildfires in Sheffield come to a halt as the weather gets cooler, the green spaces of Sheffield are able to begin recovering and restoring, with the South Yorkshire Fire Department setting out clear guidelines on how to avoid accidentally contributing towards the start of a fire.
Despite the optimistic nature of this recovery, academics at the University of Sheffield have identified that the wildfires are consequences of a much larger environmental issue, and this recent summer’s events are not a one off event unless we make drastic changes.
Professor Ross Cameron from the School of Architecture and Landscape told us that these fires are a dire consequence of increased drought caused by climate change. He said: “Climate change is changing our climate to an overall warmer one, but also inducing extremes of ‘weather.’
“Heavier and more intense rainfall, more storms with possible higher wind speeds, higher temperatures, longer and more severe drought, greater chances of fire, more damaging hailstorms and for the UK, probably the loss of frost. Models suggest by about 2070.”
Although on the surface the affected green spaces seem to be recovering, Professor Cameron explains the long term effects these fires have on ecosystems native to Sheffield.
“Many woody plants will have dropped leaves (look wilted). To some extent this is ‘natural’ and a means by which a plant stops its water losses continuing unabated. Many plants are still alive and will re-burst into growth in the spring. Herbaceous plants (including people’s lawns) will have died back but the root systems remain intact and viable; and are already sending up new shoots or will delay doing so until the spring.”
This drastic weather and recent fires have also impacted certain animal families. Professor Cameron told us: “Aquatic systems will have been affected the most this summer.
“With drying out pools, for example, impacting fish, aquatic invertebrate and amphibian populations. It may take several years before certain species recolonise or regain previous population sizes.”
Professor Cameron notes that although these are detrimental impacts on Sheffield’s nature, humanity has the potential to avoid this becoming a recurrent problem year after year:
“We need to recognise humans are part of global life too and our species is threatened by climate change both directly (e.g. loss of food) and indirectly (loss of ecosystem integrity).
“The current drought acts as a warning to our dependence on strategies such as ‘Net Zero’ – for example using trees to sequester carbon – as trees themselves are susceptible to drought, fire and new pest and disease pressures. Dead trees don’t capture carbon.
“Thus, terminating our dependence on fossil fuels is paramount!”
