Firefighters were called out to a record number of incidents in Hertfordshire last summer, as temperatures across the country soared.

In a six week period – between July 4 and August 15 last year – crews dealt with 871 fires.

That’s more than three times higher than the 248 fires dealt with by the service during the same period in 2021.

The Comet: "Hot spots" and small fires are still reigniting.

And many of those fires are said to be as a ‘direct consequence of the exceptionally warm weather’ – that saw temperatures reach in excess of 40C.

At the peak of the heatwave, according to the report, the fire control room was dealing with an emergency call every 13 seconds.

The ‘record-breaking’ summer is highlighted in the county council’s  Hertfordshire Community Protection Directorate annual performance report 2022/23.

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Overall the report records that firefighters attended 11,455 emergency incidents or requests for assistance.

That included 1,147 primary fires, which are fires involving a building, vehicle or outdoor structure, involving a casualty or five or more fire engines.

It also included  1,572 secondary fires, which are those fires that involve items such as refuse, grassland, roadside furniture, drains or barbecues.

The Comet: Firefighters remain on the scene.

A large-scale fire broke out spanning 70 acres of crop fields between Knebworth and Codicote on July 19, 2022.

On July 19, temperatures reached 40.3C in the UK, the hottest temperature ever recorded in the country's history.

According to the report in 2022/23 the service also attended 566 road accidents – and ‘continue to rescue significantly more people from RTCs than from fires’.

The Comet: 70 acres were affected by the blaze.

According to the Hertfordshire Community Protection Directorate annual performance report 2022/23, three complaints were made – and upheld – about poor or dangerous driving shown by Herts Fire and Rescue Service staff last year.

They are among 10 complaints made about the service in 2022/23 that are detailed in the annual performance report.

Six of the complaints – which also included conduct/attitude of crew, inconsiderate parking and innappropriate language – were upheld, according to the report.

The Comet: A large amount of crops were scorched by the fire.

“It is not possible to draw any robust conclusions and/or identify weaknesses in terms of performance based on the complaints data due to the extremely low number of cases that were received,” says the report.

“However, training staff at the Service’s Training and Development Centre have been instructed to ensure that all driving course delegates are reminded of their responsibilities in terms of behaviours, including courtesy to other road users.”

The council’s community protection directorate – which includes the Fire Service and trading standards – received 136 compliments during the same 12-month period.

The Comet: 25 appliances were used by the Hertfordshire Fire and Rescue Service.

The report states: “The increased number of compliments received during the reporting period compared to 2021/ 22 reflects the fact that the Directorate was, once again, able to deliver a full range of protection, prevention, and other community engagement activities, following the Covid pandemic.

“The low number of complaints combined with the number of compliments received in the period can be viewed as a positive endorsement of the quality of services provided by Community Protection. “