Wildfires can move with frightening speed. Wind can change their direction without warning, while dry grass, bracken and heather can carry flames far faster than most people expect.
Your best chance of staying safe is to avoid being caught in the first place. If a fire does break out, act early: put distance between yourself and the fire, call for help and reach an area with as little vegetation as possible.
Before setting out
During hot, dry or windy weather:
- Check the weather forecast, local fire warnings and whether paths or access land have been closed.
- Avoid remote woodland, heathland and moorland when the wildfire risk is high.
- Tell somebody where you are going and when you expect to return.
- Carry a charged phone, portable power bank, map, drinking water and any essential medication.
- Wear sturdy footwear and clothing that covers your arms and legs. Natural fibres such as cotton or wool are preferable to materials that may melt when exposed to intense heat.
- Save an offline map and know how to obtain your location using an Ordnance Survey grid reference or what3words.
- Never light a campfire or use a disposable barbecue in dry countryside. Dispose of cigarettes and matches safely.
If you see a wildfire
Do not stop to photograph it, investigate it or attempt to put it out.
- Move to safety immediately. Get away from flames, smoke and vegetation.
- Call 999 and ask for the fire and rescue service. Do not assume that somebody else has reported it.
- Give the operator your location, the approximate size of the fire, the direction it appears to be travelling and whether anyone is in danger.
- Follow any instructions given by the emergency services.
- Do not return to the area, even if the flames appear to have passed. Fire can smoulder underground and damaged trees may fall.
Where should you go?
Look for the nearest safe route towards a substantial area containing little or no fuel for the fire. Possible options include:
- a large car park or wide road;
- a large area of short or closely grazed grass;
- a ploughed field;
- a rocky area or broad expanse of bare ground;
- a large sports field or other substantial clearing;
- an already-burnt area, if it can be reached without crossing flames, hot ground or heavy smoke;
- a substantial building, if it is safely accessible and not already threatened by fire.
Move as far as possible from trees, scrub, heather, bracken, long grass and wooden structures. Distance from burning vegetation is one of your best protections against radiant heat.
Avoid steep uphill routes, narrow valleys, gullies and dips filled with vegetation. Fire generally travels more quickly uphill, while gullies can funnel flames, heat and smoke. Do not enter thick smoke simply because you cannot see flames beyond it.
Never attempt to run through a wall of fire.
Pay attention to the wind—but expect it to change
Smoke and embers usually travel downwind, so avoid moving into the smoke plume if another safe route is available. However, wildfire winds can be erratic and the fire may change direction suddenly.
Keep watching the fire, smoke and falling embers as you move. Do not become so focused on following a path or reaching your car that you continue towards danger.
If you are with other people, stay together unless the emergency services direct otherwise. Help children and anyone with limited mobility, but do not delay an immediate escape to collect belongings.
If smoke surrounds you
Wildfire smoke can cause disorientation, breathing difficulties and loss of consciousness.
- Move towards cleaner air and away from vegetation.
- Stay as low as necessary to find clearer air, but continue moving towards safety while it remains possible.
- Cover your nose and mouth loosely with a cloth to reduce some ash and larger particles.
- A damp cloth may feel cooler and may catch some particles, but it does not filter poisonous gases or make smoke safe to breathe.
- Do not soak all your clothing. Wet material can conduct heat and may cause steam burns when exposed to intense radiant heat.
- If you have asthma or another respiratory condition, use prescribed medication as directed and tell the 999 operator.
If you are cut off
This is a last-resort situation. Call 999 immediately, give your precise location and explain that you are trapped.
Seek the option offering the greatest separation from flames and vegetation. A substantial building or properly designated refuge may offer better protection than remaining in the open, but no improvised shelter is guaranteed to be safe.
If no building or designated refuge can be reached, consider the largest available area of bare ground, rock, very short grass, a ploughed field or other low-fuel ground. Put a solid non-combustible barrier, such as a substantial stone or brick wall, between yourself and the fire if possible.
A large body of water may be a last-resort option, but it carries serious risks. Smoke can still make breathing impossible, radiant heat can reach the water, falling branches may strike you and steep banks can prevent escape. Never enter deep or fast-moving water if you cannot swim, and never hide inside a water tank, culvert, cave or confined space where heat, smoke or lack of oxygen could trap you.
Should you lie down?
Do not lie down simply because you see a fire. While escape to a genuinely safer area remains possible, keep moving.
If flames are about to pass over you and absolutely no safer option remains:
- Choose the clearest, lowest-fuel ground available, preferably a shallow depression on bare earth.
- Get as far as possible from anything that can burn.
- Cover exposed skin with dry, heavy natural-fibre clothing or a dry woollen blanket if available.
- Lie face down, protect your head and neck, and keep your face close to the ground where the air may be slightly cooler and clearer.
- Stay down until the main fire front has passed, then move carefully to a safer, already-burnt or clear area.
This is an extreme last-resort measure and cannot guarantee survival.
Do not bury your face in soil or ash. This can obstruct breathing, and the ground may be dangerously hot. Do not cover your face so tightly that you cannot breathe.
If your clothing catches fire
Do not run. Running feeds the flames.
Remember:
Stop – Drop – Roll
- Stop where you are.
- Drop to the ground and cover your face with your hands.
- Roll repeatedly until the flames are extinguished.
Cool burns under cool or lukewarm running water for 20 minutes as soon as it is safe. Do not use ice, creams or greasy substances. Call 999 for serious burns, breathing difficulties, confusion, faintness or smoke inhalation.
After the flames have passed
Remain alert. Burnt areas may contain hot ash, hidden embers, unstable ground and falling trees.
- Move away from smouldering vegetation and damaged trees.
- Follow the instructions of the emergency services.
- Do not return for belongings.
- Seek medical help after significant smoke exposure, even if you initially feel well. Breathing problems can develop later.
- Keep burns clean and loosely covered with a sterile, non-fluffy dressing or clean plastic film while awaiting treatment.
The most important message
Wildfires are unpredictable, and no last-resort technique is reliably safe. The priorities are simple:
Leave early. Move away from smoke and vegetation. Reach a large, low-fuel area. Call 999. Follow the emergency services’ instructions.
Official UK guidance advises anyone seeing a wildfire to move to a safe location, call 999 immediately and never attempt to tackle the fire. Before visiting the countryside during hot, dry weather, check current local warnings and restrictions.
This article provides general emergency information for walkers in the UK. Conditions differ between incidents, so instructions from the fire and rescue service, police, land managers and local authorities must always take priority.
The advice is aligned with the UK Government’s Prepare wildfire guidance, London Fire Brigade and Devon and Somerset Fire and Rescue Service. I deliberately treated lying down, damp cloths and water as limited or last-resort measures rather than presenting them as reliably safe.
