Supporting crews at Holme Fen via Rapid Relief Team UK

12 August 2026

Rapid Relief Team’s refreshment station at Holme — Community | Compassion | Support.

In August 2026 a serious peatland wildfire at Holme Fen National Nature Reserve called on firefighters from Cambridgeshire Fire and Rescue, the Peterborough Volunteer Fire Brigade, and brigades from much further afield — alongside farmers, neighbours, and other responders working to contain the blaze and protect the landscape around it.

Those crews have been on long, demanding shifts in heat, smoke, and unstable ground. Helping them stay fed and hydrated, from a temporary base in the car park at The Admiral Wells in Holme, has been Rapid Relief Team UK.

Peterborough Lions Club has made a donation to RRT so that support can continue.

Holme Fen

Holme Fen is part of the Great Fen landscape between Peterborough and Huntingdon. Peat fires burn hot and deep, access is difficult, and crews have faced falling trees, voids in the ground, and punishing temperatures. Helicopters, farm machinery, and local volunteers have all played a part in a multi-agency response lasting many days.1

Rapid Relief Team on site

Rapid Relief Team (RRT) is a volunteer charity that mobilises quickly when emergency services are tied up for hours or days. Their motto — Community | Compassion | Support — shows up as hot meals, drinks, and a place where tired crews can take a short break before heading back out.

RRT already works with fire and rescue services across the UK, including Cambridgeshire. At Holme Fen their gazebo and catering tables have been the welfare side of a much larger operation: keeping the people on the fireground going.2

Emergency responders have been among those supported by RRT while the Holme Fen operation continues.

Why we gave through RRT

Our first thought is for everyone on the fireground — whole-time and on-call firefighters, volunteer crews, ambulance Hazardous Area Response Team (HART) personnel, and the farmers and neighbours who have brought water, machinery, and local knowledge.3 Lions cannot dig fire breaks or fly water drops; what we can do is help keep those people sustained.

That is why the Club’s donation went to Rapid Relief Team UK. Their volunteers are already beside the crews day after day. Backing RRT is how we back the wider effort.

Thank you to all who have turned out at Holme Fen — and to RRT for making sure tea, food, and a friendly face are waiting when someone comes off the line.

If you’d like to learn more about RRT’s work, visit www.rapidreliefteam.org.

Our Facebook note from the day

We Serve.

Footnotes

  1. Background on the Holme Fen peatland fire (conditions, multi-service response, helicopters, and local support): BBC News — All you need to know; BBC News — ‘boiling in the bag’; BBC News live coverage; Peterborough Telegraph — helicopter; Peterborough Telegraph — PVFB / ground hazards; Peterborough Telegraph — farmers and water. ↩

  2. RRT’s mission and Holme Fen welfare role: Rapid Relief Team; BBC News live coverage (RRT on site with refreshments). ↩

  3. Whole-time and on-call crews: BBC News — ‘boiling in the bag’. Volunteer firefighting: Peterborough Telegraph — PVFB. Farmers and neighbours: Peterborough Telegraph; BBC News live coverage. HART presence: Club photos at the RRT base in Holme. ↩