OIL giants are making firefighters’ jobs harder, a Fire Brigades Union (FBU) rep warned as he joined a protest outside Shell HQ’s London headquarters yesterday.

Andy Warren, in a personal capacity, held a placard that read “Big Oil Makes Our Job Harder” as he joined campaigners in London warning over fossil fuel profiteering’s links to the LA wildfires.

He said: “Firefighters know that the increasingly frequent and destructive wildfires we face are the responsibility of the fossil fuel industry and its disregard for human life.

“These companies have known about the effects of their profiteering for decades and it is high time they were taken into public ownership and their profits used to fund a just green transition.

“No fire service in the world will be a match for the disasters that come if we carry on as we are.”

Fossil Free London staged the protest which saw campaigners dressing in red and orange carrying signs that read: “It’s not a tragedy, it’s a crime” and chanting: “Shell did this.”

Joanna Warrington, who attended the protest with Fossil Free London, said: “LA is on fire, and it’s big oil that sparked the match and fanned the flames.

“Corporations like Shell have known for decades the disasters their fossil fuels would cause, but spent billions delaying climate action and funding misinformation to protect their business interests.

“As devastating events like these become more commonplace, its vital blame is put on the oily bosses who profit whilst our homes burn.”

Shell was contacted for comment.

Wildfires across Los Angeles have now killed at least 24 people, and burned down more than 12,000 homes and businesses.

The Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change states that emissions from fossil fuels are the biggest cause of climate change.