Event round up: National Fire Chiefs Council (NFCC) AI Hothouse 2026
On Thursday 21 and Friday 22 May, the National Fire Chiefs Council (NFCC), in partnership with BT and techUK, delivered an event which brought together fire and rescue services, industry experts, and other key stakeholders to explore and develop practical approaches to three problem statements, supporting the NFCC’s ambition to leverage AI across its activities.
The event focused on three main challenge areas: creating a national, real-time repository for Residential Personal Escape and Evacuation Plan (RPEEP) information to support safer evacuations for vulnerable residents; exploring AI-enabled low-level fire safety audits for lower-risk premises to reduce operational pressure on Fire Safety Inspecting Officers; and considering a similar AI-driven remote audit model for non-domestic properties to improve consistency and free up capacity for higher-risk inspections.
Across the discussions, there was a clear focus on how AI tools could help fire and rescue services make better use of data, improve access to critical information, and support more consistent decision-making. Conversations highlighted the potential for AI to strengthen access to evacuation information for vulnerable residents, streamline lower-risk fire safety activity, and reduce the administrative burden on Fire Safety Inspecting Officers.
More broadly, the event really emphasised how these approaches could help the fire sector target limited resources more effectively, improve consistency across services, and create greater capacity to focus on higher-risk buildings, prevention, and frontline response.
Discussions also pointed to the wider impact these kinds of innovative tools and solutions could have on communities. By improving access to critical information, supporting more consistent fire safety activity, and helping services respond more effectively to risk, AI has the potential to contribute to safer evacuations, stronger prevention activity, and better protection for vulnerable people.
“The AI Hothouse was a genuinely impressive and energising event, bringing together the very best of the fire sector and industry. The support from BT and techUK, through our Memorandum of Understanding, has been instrumental in making this happen and in driving meaningful progress at pace.
What we saw over the two days was more than discussion – it was the development of practical, scalable ideas that will help shape how we adopt and use AI across the UK fire sector. This kind of collaboration is critical if we are to unlock the full potential of technology to improve safety, target resources more effectively, and deliver better outcomes for our communities.”
Callum Faint, Chief Fire and Rescue Officer and Digital, Technology and Cyber (DTC) Board Chair
National Fire Chiefs Council
The event showed what’s possible when fire and rescue services, industry and partners focus on real operational challenges together. There was clear progress around how AI could help make better use of data, improve consistency and free up capacity for higher-risk work. We’re pleased to support the NFCC in exploring these approaches and look forward to continuing the collaboration to turn ideas into scalable, real-world solutions.
Sian Penny
Director for Public Safety and Justice, BT
techUK and our Justice and Emergency Services programme are committed to supporting these conversations by bringing together fire and rescue services, industry and academia to share insights, explore common challenges, and identify opportunities for collaboration.
If you would like to get involved in this work, please contact the JES team below!
