Headon Warren Wildfire Support
- Andrew Green
- Jul 29
- 2 min read
This week we have been supporting Hampshire and Isle of Wight Fire and Rescue Service during the major wildfire at Headon Warren.
For over 30 hours, WightSAR volunteers provided continuous operational support alongside partner agencies during one of the Island’s most significant wildfire incidents in recent years.
Tasked with delivering specialist aerial capability, our Drone Team and Incident Support Team operated across challenging and remote terrain, supplying live aerial imagery and real-time intelligence to fire commanders. This enhanced situational awareness helped monitor fire progression, assess affected areas, and inform critical decision-making on the ground.
Support was maintained day and night through rotating volunteer teams, ensuring a consistent and reliable flow of aerial intelligence throughout the incident.
A key element of our response was thermal drone deployment. While flames and smoke are often visible, thermal imaging allows responders to detect hidden hotspots, identify residual heat, and direct resources more effectively, both during active firefighting and in the ongoing management phase.
WightSAR is an independent charity with no regular government funding. Our specialist capability is made possible entirely through the commitment of unpaid volunteers and the continued investment in equipment, training, and operational readiness. For this incident, we deployed a drone funded through a grant from the Isle of Wight Foundation, a local charity supporting community projects. We are extremely grateful to them and it is great for them to see this equipment being effectively utilised in this way.
We would also like to thank the employers who supported our volunteers, enabling them to step away from their day jobs to assist their community when it mattered most and also to those local media agencies that recognised our work and contribution throughout.
This morning, our teams returned to Headon Warren to continue identifying residual heat and remaining hotspots as part of the ongoing response.
We are proud to support Hampshire and Isle of Wight Fire and Rescue Service and partner agencies, and proud of all of our volunteers who contributed to this deployment.
