Joint Fire Control, the control room serving Mid and West Wales Fire and Rescue Service and South Wales Fire and Rescue Service, activated Operation Willow Beck during the summer wildfires after call volumes exceeded its own call-handling capacity, the National Fire Chiefs Council (NFCC) has said. The NFCC published the account on 29 October 2026, ahead of International Control Room Week, which runs from 26 October to 1 November 20261.
On 13 August 2026 the control room received more than 2,500 calls, including nearly 2,000 emergency 999 calls, compared with around 200 calls on a typical day. The peak fell within 39 days of sustained activity, during which around 30 incidents were ongoing simultaneously at times. A team that would ordinarily have seven personnel on duty grew to 26 at the height of the response, with former control staff returning from other roles and administrative colleagues trained quickly to support call handling. Every available desk was brought into use, with additional space provided by police colleagues, and some personnel worked shifts of up to 16 hours1.
Operation Willow Beck is described by the NFCC as an arrangement that enables fire and rescue services to work with BT to manage emergency call volumes exceeding their own call-handling capacity. Call volumes also rose significantly at other points in August, including a further peak around 24 August. The published figures include emergency calls and other calls received by the control room, including those from fire stations, members of the public and operational partners1.
Separate National Resilience data, provided directly to the NFCC, shows that fire and rescue services in England and Wales responded to 1,004 wildfires during July and August 2026, including 519 in August, the highest monthly total recorded1.
"The volume of calls, the number of major incidents and the sustained pressure on our teams were extraordinary."
Why it matters for households
The account sets out what happens inside a fire control room when wildfire demand is high: call volumes more than ten times the usual daily level, around 30 incidents running at once, and staffing expanded from seven to 26. For households in the two service areas, the practical effect described is a control room managing emergency calls alongside the coordination of resources, relief crews and fire cover for other emergencies. The NFCC states that the figures include calls from members of the public as well as from fire stations and operational partners1. The NFCC has not reported any change to how the public should contact the fire service, and no change to 999 arrangements has been announced. Guidance on heat and wildfire conditions is set out in the guide to heatwaves and drought.
What happens next
International Control Room Week runs from 26 October to 1 November 2026 and recognises the contribution of emergency service control room personnel, according to the NFCC1. No further dates connected with Operation Willow Beck or the control room's summer response have been reported.
