At a strategic level, recovery to major incidents start at the early stages of the emergency. This reflects a proactive approach to managing the anticipated longer-term impacts of the incident alongside the ongoing response. This early consideration enabled a structured and well paced transition, avoiding a hard handover and ensuring continuity as response activity scaled down. Although recovery groups formed at various phases of the incident they fully formed on 2 September before accepting the coordination of the incident on 5 September.

The transition into recovery was managed through established Local Resilience Forum (LRF) arrangements, with a clear governance structure and a well coordinated Main Recovery Coordination Group supported by thematic sub groups.

Effective multi-agency engagement continues was evident throughout the transition, particularly in the coordination of complex issues such as unexploded ordnance (UXO) risk, environmental impact, infrastructure access and community reassurance. The involvement of specialist partners, including military representatives and national agencies, provided timely expertise and shared situational awareness, supporting informed decision making and risk management.

While recovery activity continues and remains active through LRF recovery structures and sub groups, the detailed progress and outputs of this phase sit outside the scope of this debrief. This document focuses on the response phase and the immediate transition arrangements, with ongoing recovery being addressed through the LRF’s dedicated recovery governance and assurance processes.

The Service continued to support recovery arrangements throughout the incident, with the Chief Fire Officer leading two engagement sessions with MHCLG and Defra, alongside partner agencies involved in the recovery phase. These sessions were well received and provided an opportunity to articulate the operational challenges, scale of the incident and its impact on local communities. They also sought to support Bellwin claims across all organisations, while offering direct, first-hand insight into the consequences of the incident.