National statistics

Detailed analysis of non-fire incidents: England, April 2021 to March 2022

Published 19 January 2023

Applies to England

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Frequency of release: annual

Forthcoming releases: Home Office statistics release calendar

Home Office responsible statistician: Helene Clark

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Public enquiries: firestatistics@homeoffice.gov.uk

This release contains statistics about non-fire incidents attended by fire and rescue services (FRSs) in England for the year ending March 2022.

The statistics are sourced from the Home Office’s online Incident Recording System (IRS). They include statistics on all non-fire incidents, including related fatalities and non-fatal casualties, with long term comparisons.

This release provides more detailed analysis of the already published trends in non-fire incidents for the year to March 2022. For the latest headline findings on non-fire incidents numbers see Fire and rescue incident statistics: England, year ending June 2022.

1. Key results

In the year ending March 2022, there were 194,609 non-fire incidents. This is a 29% increase compared with the year ending March 2021, and an 11% increase compared with the year ending March 2017.

Collaborating incidents account for an increasing proportion of non-fire incidents, up from 14% in 2009 to 2010, to 31% in 2021 to 2022.

In the year ending March 2022, there were 3,298 fatalities in non-fire incidents. This is a 20% increase compared with the year ending March 2021, but a 35% decrease compared with the year ending March 2017.

In the year ending March 2022, there were 40,768 non-fatal casualties in non-fire incidents. This is a 34% increase compared with the year ending March 2021, but a 22% decrease compared with the year ending March 2017.

In the year ending March 2022, there were 17 fatalities per 1,000 non-fire incidents and 209 non-fatal casualties per 1,000 non-fire incidents. The fatality and non-fatal casualty rates peaked around the year ending March 2017, when medical incidents made up a greater proportion of non-fire incidents attended. The proportion of non-fire incident types in the year ending March 2022 was similar to the year ending March 2021.

2. Non-fire incidents summary

FRSs attend many types of incidents that are not fires or fire false alarms. These are known as non-fire incidents or special service incidents. Examples include:

  • flooding incidents
  • responding to road traffic collisions
  • animal assistance
  • effecting entry/exit
  • assisting other agencies

Each year the content of this release is reviewed to make sure topics of interest are reported.

This release for the year ending March 2022 includes chapters covering:

  • overall trends in non-fire incidents
  • fatalities and non-fatal casualties

Plus additional detail on the following incident types:

  • road traffic collisions
  • medical incidents
  • collaborating incidents
  • lift release incidents
  • flooding and rescue/evacuation from water incidents
  • non-fire false alarms

2.1 Key results

In the year ending March 2022, fire and rescue services attended 194,609 non-fire incidents. This is a 29% increase compared with the year ending March 2021 (151,006) and an increase of 11% compared with the year ending March 2017 (174,680)

The most common categories of non-fire incidents attended were:

  • effecting entry/exit (31,522 incidents, a 30% increase compared with the year ending March 2021 and a 53% increase compared with the year ending March 2017)

  • road traffic collisions (30,625 incidents, a 36% increase compared with the year ending March 2021 and a 2% increase compared with the year ending March 2017)

  • assisting other agencies (25,533 incidents, a 28% increase compared with the year ending March 2021 and two and a half times larger than the year ending March 2017)

The trends in the proportion of non-fire incidents were similar to the year ending March 2021.

Between the years ending March 2000 and March 2009, the number of non-fire incidents fluctuated between 155,000 and 175,000[footnote 1]. There was then a general decline to around 125,000 in the year ending March 2015.

Following this period of decline, there were 2 substantial year-on-year increases. In the year ending March 2016, the number of non-fire incidents increased to around 153,000 and increased further in the year ending March 2017 to around 175,000. These increases coincided with the introduction of the National Joint Council (NJC) supported trials of emergency medical responding (EMR) in 2015. In these trials, FRSs formed agreements with ambulance trusts to undertake health and care related work, in particular co-responding. The Fire Brigades Union (FBU) removed support for the trials in September 2017, which likely drove the subsequent reduction in the number of non-fire incidents.

Between the year ending March 2017 and the year ending March 2020, the number of non-fire incidents fluctuated between 162,000 and 175,000. This was followed by a large reduction down to around 151,000 in the year ending March 2021. This is likely due to the impact of coronavirus (COVID-19) restrictions that were in place for much of that period.

In the year ending March 2022, the number of non-fire incidents increased significantly to 194,609, the largest number recorded since data became available in the year ending March 2000. This increase is the net result of distinct changes within specific non-fire incident categories see Table 2.1 for detail.

The number of non-fire incidents attended over the last 10 years has increased both in terms of the absolute number and as a proportion of all incidents attended. See Figure 2.1 for further detail[footnote 2].

Figure 2.1: Incidents attended by fire and rescue services in England, by incident type, year ending March 2011 to year ending March 2022

Source: FIRE0102: Incidents attended by fire and rescue services in England, by incident type and fire and rescue authority

Notes:

  1. Non-fire incidents include non-fire false alarms.

2.3 Categories of non-fire incidents

For ease of presentation and analysis in this release and its related tables some non-fire incident types[footnote 3] are occasionally grouped together:

  • the categories ‘medical incident - first responder’ and ‘medical incident - co-responder’ are grouped together in the ‘medical incidents’ category

  • the categories ‘assisting other agencies’, ‘entry/exit’ and ‘suicide/attempts’ are grouped together in the ‘collaborating incidents’ category

  • many of the smaller non-fire incident types which do not fit neatly within the other main categories are grouped together in the ‘other’ category (see table FIRE0901 for data on all specific non-fire incident types)

Where an incident requires a fire and rescue service (FRS) to undertake multiple actions (a suicide attempt and a rescue from water, for example) it is recorded as the action that was the most resource intensive.

  1. The figures for non-fire incidents attended broken down by detailed type of action can be found in FIRE0902. ↩

There were increases in all categories of non-fire incidents in the year ending March 2022 compared with the year ending March 2021.

See Table 2.1 for all main categories and table FIRE0901 for all specific non-fire incident types.

Table 2.1: Number of non-fire incidents and percentage change by non-fire incident main categories[footnote 4], England, years ending March 2012, March 2017, March 2021 and March 2022

Non-fire incident type Year ending Mar 2022 Year ending Mar 2021 1 year change Year ending Mar 2017 5 year change Year ending Mar 2012 10 year change
Total 194,609 151,006 +29% 174,680 +11% 133,520 +46%
Collaborating incidents 59,638 46,352 +29% 32,364 +84% 20,588 +190%
Road traffic collisions (RTCs) 30,625 22,521 +36% 29,919 +2% 28,343 +8%
Medical incidents 18,241 13,809 +32% 45,756 -60% 12,080 +51%
Flooding and rescue or evacuation from water 17,388 16,393 +6% 15,099 +15% 12,560 +38%
Lift release 11,086 7,931 +40% 10,980 +1% 14,176 -22%
False alarms 8,117 6,675 +22% 6,047 +34% 9,947 -18%
Other 49,514 37,325 +33% 34,515 +43% 35,826 +38%

Source: FIRE0901: Non-fire incidents attended, by type of incident and fire and rescue authority, England

Notes:

  1. ‘Flooding and rescue or evacuation from water’ contains the ‘flooding’ and ‘rescue or evacuation from water’ categories.
  2. ‘False alarms’ contains ‘malicious false alarm’ and ‘good intent false alarm’ non-fire categories.
  3. ‘Other’ contains ‘other transport incident’, ‘other rescue / release of persons’, ‘animal assistance incidents’, ‘removal of objects from people’, ‘hazardous materials incident’, ‘spills and leaks (not RTC)’, ‘making safe (not RTC)’, ‘evacuation (no fire)’, ‘water provision’, ‘advice only’, ‘stand by’ and ‘no action (not false alarm)’ categories.

Detailed data on non-fire incident types were first collected when FRSs began to submit records via the online IRS in the year ending March 2010. Table FIRE0902 provides more detail on the action taken under each of the 23 specific non-fire incident types.

Over the last 10 years, trends have varied across the non-fire incident main categories (see Figure 2.2). There were reductions in several incident types in the year ending March 2021. This is likely due to COVID-19 restrictions being in place for much of that period, followed by increases in the year ending March 2022.

The ‘road traffic collisions’ (RTCs) category has been broadly stable, although there was a large decrease in the year ending March 2021. This is likely due to the impact of COVID-19 restrictions on road traffic volumes. However, in the year ending March 2022, RTCs increased to just below pre-pandemic levels, 2% lower than year ending March 2020. See ‘road traffic collisions’ for further detail.

The ‘medical incidents’ category had a sharp increase around the year ending March 2017, predominantly due to the introduction of the EMR trials. However, in recent years, the number of medical incidents attended has returned to levels similar to those seen before the commencement of the trials (for more information see ‘medical incidents’).

The ‘collaborating incidents’ category has increased substantially from around 21,100 in the year ending March 2015, to around 59,600 in the year ending March 2022, an increase of 182% (further discussed in ‘collaborating incidents’).

The ‘lift release’ category steadily decreased from around 14,200 in the year ending March 2012, to around 10,200 in the year ending March 2015. It then steadily increased to around 11,700 in the year ending March 2020. There was a sizeable reduction in the year ending March 2021, to around 7,900. This is likely due to COVID-19 restrictions and guidance to work from home. This was followed by an increase to around 11,100 in the year ending March 2022 (further discussed in ‘lift release incidents’).

The ‘flooding and rescue or evacuation from water’ category has fluctuated. The fluctuation in the number of incidents attended appears to be linked to rainfall (further discussed in ‘flooding and rescue or evacuation from water’).

The number of ‘non-fire false alarms’ fell year-on-year from a peak of around 13,200 in the year ending March 2010, to a low of around 5,200 in the year ending March 2015. Since then, the number has steadily increased to around 8,100 in the year ending March 2022, except for a decrease in the year ending March 2021. This is likely due to the impact of COVID-19 restrictions. See ‘non-fire false alarms’ for further detail.

Figure 2.2 :Number of non-fire incidents by main categories, England, year ending March 2010 to year ending March 2022

Source: FIRE0901: Non-fire incidents attended, by type of incident and fire and rescue authority, England

Notes:

  1. ‘Collaborating incidents’ include ‘assisting other agencies’, ‘effecting entry/exit’ and ‘suicide/attempts’.
  2. The ‘other’ category includes ‘lift release incidents’, ‘non-fire false alarms’ and other less common categories of non-fire incidents.

2.4 Trend in proportions of non-fire incidents

The profile of non-fire incidents attended, in terms of the types of incidents attended, has changed since comparable data became available in the year ending March 2010.

The proportion of non-fire incidents accounted for by ‘collaborating incidents’ has gradually increased from 14% in the year ending March 2010, to 31% in the year ending March 2022. From the year ending March 2018 onwards it has been the most common incident category.

‘Collaborating incidents’ account for the same proportion in the year ending March 2022 as they did in the year ending March 2021 (31%), but a 12% increase compared with the year ending March 2017 (19%).

RTCs accounted for between 21% and 23% of non-fire incidents between the year ending March 2010 and the year ending March 2015. Since then, this proportion has generally decreased to 16% in the year ending March 2022.

Medical incidents accounted for a steadily increasing proportion of non-fire incidents between the years ending March 2010 (7%) to March 2015 (13%). In the year ending March 2017, this proportion increased to 26%, reflecting the EMR trials, before falling rapidly to 12% in the year ending March 2019. Since then, the proportion has continued to decline, but at a slower rate, to 9% in the year ending March 2022.

The proportion of non-fire incidents accounted for by ‘flooding and rescue or evacuation from water’ incidents has fluctuated between 9% and 12%, except in the year ending March 2015 when it accounted for 11%.

The proportion of non-fire incidents accounted for by ‘lift release’ incidents steadily decreased from 13% in the year ending March 2010, to 6% in the year ending March 2017. Since then, the proportion has remained broadly stable, fluctuating between 5% and 7%.

The proportion of non-fire incidents accounted for by ‘non-fire false alarms’ steadily decreased from 9% in the year ending March 2010, to 4% in the year ending March 2014. Since then, the proportion has remained at 4% in each year, except for the year ending March 2017, in which it reduced slightly to 3%.

The ‘other’ incident type, which includes several distinct subcategories[footnote 5], accounted for between 25% and 28% between the years ending March 2010 to March 2014. This proportion then steadily fell to 20% in the year ending March 2017, before steadily increasing to 25% in the year ending March 2022.

The profile of non-fire incidents attended in the year ending March 2022 has remained broadly similar to that seen in the year ending March 2021. See Figure 2.3 for further detail.

Figure 2.3: Proportion of non-fire incidents by main categories, England, year ending March 2010 to year ending March 2022

Source: FIRE0901: Non-fire incidents attended, by type of incident and fire and rescue authority, England

3. Fatalities and non-fatal casualties in non-fire incidents

The numbers of fatalities and non-fatal casualties in non-fire incidents is related to the number of non-fire incidents attended.

In general, the more non-fire incidents fire and rescue services (FRSs) attend, the more fatalities and non-fatal casualties in such incidents will be recorded. Another key factor is the type of incidents FRSs attend as incident types have varying rates of fatalities and non-fatal casualties (see Table 3.1 and Table 3.2 for more detail).

3.1 Key results

In the year ending March 2022, there were:

  • 3,298 fatalities in non-fire incidents, an increase of 20% compared with the year ending March 2021 (2,747), a decrease of 35% compared with the year ending March 2017 (5,112) and an increase of 102% compared with the year ending March 2012(1,634)

  • 17 fatalities per 1,000 non-fire incidents attended, compared with 18 in the year ending March 2021, 29 in the year ending March 2017 and 12 in the year ending 2012

  • 40,768 non-fatal casualties in non-fire incidents, an increase of 34% compared with the year ending March 2021 (30,358), a decrease of 22% compared with the year ending March 2017 (51,935) and an increase of 39% compared with the year ending March 2012 (29,314)

  • 209 non-fatal casualties per 1,000 non-fire incidents attended, compared with 201 in the year ending March 2021, 297 in the year ending March 2017 and 220 in the year ending March 2012

3.2 Fatalities in non-fire incidents

Detailed comparable data on fatalities in non-fire incidents attended by fire and rescue services first became available for the year ending March 2011. It remained stable at around 1,600 fatalities in each year up to and including the year ending March 2014. There was then a period of sharp increases, coinciding with the introduction of EMR trials, followed by a sharp decrease to around 2,500 fatalities in the year ending March 2019, following the termination of EMR trials.

In the year ending March 2022, there were 3,298 fatalities in non-fire incidents. This is a 20% increase compared with the year ending March 2021, a decrease of 35% compared with the year ending March 2017 and an increase of 102% compared with the year ending March 2012.

The rate of fatalities in the year ending March 2022 (17 per 1,000 incidents) is only marginally smaller than in the year ending March 2021 (18 per 1,000 incidents). Hence, the increase in the number of fatalities this year compared with the previous year is due to the increased number of incidents attended. The fatality rate has decreased by 41% compared with the year ending March 2017 (29 per 1,000 incidents). This is due in part to the changing profile of non-fire incidents attended following the removal of EMR trials, but has increased by 42% relative to the year ending March 2012 (12 per 1,000 incidents).

The main drivers of the overall increase in total fatalities in the year ending March 2022 compared with the year ending March 2021, were the increases in the number of fatalities in:

  • RTCs (up by 200, 41%)
  • collaborating incidents[footnote 6] (up by 183, 12%)
  • medical incidents (up by 117, 40%)

Table 3.1: Number of fatalities in non-fire incidents and percentage change, England, comparing the year ending March 2022 with one, 5 and 10 years previously

Non-fire incident type 2021/22 2020/21 % change vs last year 2016/17 % change vs 5yrs ago 2011/12 % change vs 10 yrs ago
Total 3,298 2,747 +20% 5,112 -35% 1,634 +102%
Assist other agencies 760 697 +9% 436 +74% 198 +284%
Road Traffic Collision 683 483 +41% 633 +8% 737 -7%
Effecting entry/exit 683 620 +10% 303 +125% 66 +935%
Medical incidents 411 294 +40% 3,104 -87% 188 +119%
Suicide (including attempts) 325 268 +21% 289 +12% 177 +84%
Other 295 282 +5% 238 +24% 186 +59%
Flooding and rescue or evacuation from water 141 101 +40% 107 +32% 82 +72%

Source: FIRE0904a and FIRE0904b: Fatalities and non-fatal casualties in non-fire incidents by fire and rescue authority and non-fire incident type (main categories), England

Given the relationship between the numbers of incidents attended and the numbers of fatalities, a better metric to understand the changing profile of fatalities is the rate of fatalities per 1,000 incidents.

The non-fire incident type category with the highest rate of fatalities in the year ending March 2022 was suicide (including attempts) with a rate of 126 per 1,000 incidents[footnote 7]. However, in the last 5 years, the rate of fatalities at suicides (including attempts) has reduced from a peak of 194 per 1,000 incidents in the year ending March 2017. The typical nature of this incident type may have been impacted by the ceasing of the EMR trials in the year ending March 2017. However, since then, the number of these incidents attended has continued to increase year on year from 1,493, to 2,583 in the year ending March 2022.

There was a spike in the rate of fatalities in medical incidents around the year ending March 2017. This coincided with the beginning and end of the EMR trials. This likely entailed FRSs attending a greater number of emergency medical incidents in which fatalities were more likely than typical medical incidents attended.

As in the previous 6 years, the non-fire incident type with the lowest rate of fatalities in the year ending March 2022 was ‘flooding and rescue or evacuation from water’, with a rate of 8 per 1,000 incidents. This figure has remained broadly stable between 4 and 8 fatalities per 1,000 incidents since data became available in the year ending March 2011.

RTCs, ‘effecting entry/exit’ and medical incidents had similar fatality rates in the year ending March 2022 (22, 22 and 23 per 1,000 incidents respectively).

See Figure 3.1, Table 3.2 and FIRE0904 for further detail.

Table 3.2: Rate of fatalities per 1,000 non-fire incidents and percentage change, England, comparing the year ending March 2022 with one, 5 and 10 years previously

Non-fire incident type 2021/22 2020/21 % change vs last year 2016/17 % change vs 5yrs ago 2011/12 % change vs 10 yrs ago
Total 17 18 -7% 29 -42% 12 +38%
Suicide (including attempts) 126 128 -2% 194 -35% 151 -17%
Assist other agencies 30 35 -15% 43 -30% 48 -38%
Medical incidents 23 21 +6% 68 -67% 16 +45%
Road Traffic Collision 22 21 +4% 21 +5% 26 -14%
Effecting entry/exit 22 26 -15% 15 +48% 4 +403%
Flooding and rescue or evacuation from water 8 6 +32% 7 +14% 7 +24%

Source: FIRE0904: Fatalities and non-fatal casualties in non-fire incidents by fire and rescue authority and non-fire incident type (main categories), England

Notes:

  1. Rates for ‘other’ are not meaningful because of the wide variety of incident types included within it.

Figure 3.1: Rate of fatalities for each non-fire incident type (main categories) per 1,000 incidents, England, year ending March 2011 to year ending March 2022

Source: FIRE0904b: Fatalities and non-fatal casualties in non-fire incidents by fire and rescue authority and non-fire incident type (main categories), England

Notes:

  1. The ‘suicide (including attempts)’ incident type is excluded from Figure 3.1 due to the significantly higher fatality rate compared with the other incident types which would impact the scale if included.

3.3 Non-fatal casualties in non-fire incidents

Non-fatal casualties are split into 4 subcategories:

  • hospital severe (at least an overnight stay in hospital as an in-patient)

  • hospital slight (attending hospital as an outpatient, not a precautionary check)

  • first aid given (first aid given at scene (by anyone), including after a precautionary check)

  • precautionary check (a precautionary check was recommended (by anyone) to attend hospital or to see a doctor)

The number of non-fatal casualties in non-fire incidents remained relatively stable until the year ending March 2015 (a similar trajectory to fatalities). There were then 2 year-on-year increases in the years ending March 2016 to March 2017 which coincided with the EMR trials.

Between the years ending March 2017 to March 2021 the number of non-fatal casualties fell each year. This was due to the reduction in the number of medical incidents attended by FRSs during this time, in particular, medical co-responding.

In the year ending March 2022, there were 40,768 non-fatal casualties in non-fire incidents. This was a 34% increase compared with the year ending March 2021 (30,358) and an increase of 7% compared with the year ending March 2020 (38,068).

It should be noted that there were COVID-19 restrictions in place in England for much of the year ending March 2021. This is likely to have had an impact on the figures.

In the year ending March 2022, the non-fire incident categories with the largest annual changes in non-fatal casualties in percentage terms were:

  • medical incidents (43% increase)
  • road traffic collisions (39% increase)
  • collaborating incidents (27% increase)

‘Lift release’ incidents increased substantially in percentage terms but are excluded from this comparison. This is due to the substantially smaller numbers involved, which are more susceptible to yearly fluctuations.

In terms of injury severity, of the 40,768 non-fatal casualties in non-fire incidents, these were recorded as:

  • ‘hospital slight’, 16,016 (39%)
  • ‘hospital severe’, 9,700 (24%)
  • requiring first aid, 4,940 (12%)
  • requiring precautionary checks, 5,649 (14%)

All these proportions are the same as the year ending March 2021.

Figure 3.2: Number of non-fatal casualties in non-fire incidents, by injury severity, England, year ending March 2011 to year ending March 2022

Source: FIRE0904d: Fatalities and non-fatal casualties in non-fire incidents by fire and rescue authority and non-fire incident type (main categories), England

Notes:

  1. Excludes injury severities recorded as unknown.

In a similar manner to the rate of fatalities in non-fire incidents, the rate of non-fatal casualties peaked in the year ending March 2017 (297 non-fatal casualties per 1,000 incidents), around the time of the EMR trials.

The rate of non-fatal casualties then decreased in each of the next 4 years to 201 per 1,000 incidents in the year ending March 2021. In the year ending March 2022 the rate of non-fatal casualties increased to 209 per 1,000 incidents. See Figure 3.3 for further detail.

Figure 3.3: Rate of non-fatal casualties per 1,000 incidents, England, year ending March 2011 to year ending March 2022

Source: FIRE0901: Non-fire incidents attended, by type of incident and fire and rescue authority, England and FIRE0904d: Fatalities and non-fatal casualties in non-fire incidents by fire and rescue authority and non-fire incident type (main categories), England

4. Road traffic collisions

Road traffic collisions (RTC) are incidents that require the attendance of the fire and rescue services (FRS) for collisions, involving one or multiple vehicles (including large and small vehicles, motorbikes), where the incident did not involve a fire. These include incidents where FRSs attend the incident for safety reasons, where people are extricated or released from their vehicle and other reasons.

RTCs that involve a fire are recorded as road vehicle fires and are therefore not included in this release, see FIRE0302 for the latest data on these incidents.

4.1 Key results

In the year ending March 2022:

FRSs attended 30,625 Road Traffic Collisions in England, this is an:

  • increase of 36% compared with the year ending March 2021 (during which several national lockdowns occurred in response to COVID-19 that significantly reduced traffic levels)
  • increase of 2% compared with the year ending March 2017
  • increase of 8% compared with the year ending March 2012

FRS attendance at RTCs peaked between 5pm and 6pm.

4.2 RTC incidents overview

Between the years ending March 2010 (the first year data was collected) to March 2013, the number of RTCs decreased from around 33,600 to around 27,900. Since then, the number fluctuated between around 28,100 and 31,100, except for the year ending March 2021 in which the number decreased to around 22,500. This is likely due to COVID-19 restrictions on daily life during this period, which led to less traffic on the roads.

In the year ending March 2022, FRSs attended 30,625 RTCs. This is a 36% increase compared with the year ending March 2021, but a 2% decrease compared with the year ending March 2020 (pre-pandemic).

In the year ending March 2022, around 2% of RTC incidents attended by FRSs involved a fatality, and this has remained stable over the time series.

The 3 most common types of action carried out at RTCs in the year ending March 2022 were:

  • making the scene safe (33%, 10,117)
  • making the vehicle safe (31%, 9,470)
  • extrication of persons (13%, 3,971)

The proportion of different action types in the year ending March 2022 is broadly consistent with previous years.

Figure 4.1: RTCs by detailed type of action, England, year ending March 2013 to year ending March 2022

Source: FIRE0902: Non-fire incidents attended by detailed type of action, England

Notes:

  1. Comparable data on detailed type of action at RTCs is available from the year ending March 2013 onwards. Prior to this some RTC detailed action types were not recorded.

4.3 RTCs and time of day

In the year ending March 2022, FRS attendance at RTCs was most common during the ‘late afternoon and evening’ hours (2pm to 8pm). The proportion of RTCs in each hour band generally increased until peaking in the hour 5pm to 6pm, when 7.3% of RTCs occurred.

The proportion of RTCs reduced in each hour time band following the 5pm to 6pm peak. The exception to this trend was a small peak between 8am and 9am, with 4.5% of RTCs.

These peaks coincide with the morning and evening rush hour when there are typically more vehicles on the road. The hour with the lowest proportion of RTC incidents was 4am to 5am, with 1.3% of RTCs.

Fatalities in RTCs followed a similar pattern, to that described above for RTC incidents, in the year ending March 2022. These are most common during the ‘late afternoon and evening’ hours with notable peaks between 3pm to 4pm and 9pm to 10pm (see Table 4.1 below).

Table 4.1: Number and proportion of RTC incidents and fatalities by time of day, England, year ending March 2022

Time of day Number of RTCs Fatalities in RTCs % of RTCs with a fatality
Total 100.0% (30,625) 100.0% (683) 2.2%
Late morning and early afternoon (6am-2pm) 33.8% (10,366) 31.8% (217) 2.1%
Late afternoon and evening (2pm-10pm) 46.6% (14,285) 43.2% (295) 2.1%
Night and early morning (10pm-6am) 19.5% (5,974) 25.0% (171) 2.9%

Source: FIRE0901: Non-fire incidents attended, by type of incident and fire and rescue authority, England and FIRE0906: Percentage of incidents and fatalities in Road Traffic Collisions by hour of the day, England

During the year ending March 2022, there were generally fewer fatalities per RTC on average during the morning and early afternoon (7am to 3pm), compared with the night-time and early hours of the morning (8pm to 6am).

Late afternoon and early evening (4pm to 8pm) was also a period with relatively fewer fatalities. See Figure 4.2 for further detail.

Figure 4.2: Percentage of RTCs and fatalities in RTCs by hour of the day, England; combined data for year ending March 2011 to year ending March 2022

Source: FIRE0906: Percentage of incidents and fatalities in Road Traffic Collisions by hour of the day, England

Notes:

  1. Data are only combined from the year ending March 2011 onwards as detailed data collected before this date are less robust.
  2. Data are combined as fatalities by hour figures are prone to fluctuation.

The proportion of RTC incidents attended by time of day was broadly similar in the year ending March 2022 compared with pre-pandemic figures (2019 to 2020), with peaks around the morning and evening rush hours.

There was a slight decrease in the proportion of RTCs that occurred in the morning between 5am and 9am in the year ending March 2022 (12%) compared with the year ending March 2020 (13%).

There was also a slight decrease in the proportion of RTCs that occurred in the afternoon between 1pm and 5pm in the year ending March 2022 (23%) compared with the year ending March 2020 (25%).

There was a slight increase in the proportion that occurred during the evening and night-time between 6pm and 4am in the year ending March 2022 (38%), compared with the year ending 2020 (36%).

4.4 Rate of RTCs per 100,000 people

In the year ending March 2022, there were 54 RTCs attended by FRSs per 100,000 people in England. This compared with 40 in the year ending March 2021, and 64 in the year ending March 2010 (when the online IRS was introduced, and these data were first collected).

At an FRS level, West Midlands attended the most RTCs per 100,000 people, as in the year ending March 2021, with 92, followed by Lincolnshire (87) and Hereford and Worcester (86).

The FRS with the fewest RTCs per 100,000 people (excluding the Isles of Scilly as they had none in the year ending March 2022) was West Yorkshire, as in the year ending March 2021, with 25. See table FIRE0903 for more information.

4.5 Extrication of people from RTCs

Extrication is the removal or setting free of a person in difficulty, where equipment or expertise are necessary to remove someone from a situation. For example, trapped in a vehicle road traffic collision (RTC). It includes extrication of fatal victims from an RTC incident.

Of the 30,625 RTCs attended by FRSs in the year ending March 2022, 13% (3,971) involved the extrication of at least one person. This compared with 13% (3,030) in the year ending March 2021, and 25% (8,49 in the year ending March 2010 (when data was first collected). See table FIRE0902 for more information.

The number of extrications from RTCs has been on a general downward trend since the year ending March 2010. There was a notable decrease in the year ending March 2021, again likely due to the impact of COVID-19 restrictions and the reduced number of RTCs.

In the year ending March 2022, the most common method of extrication was ‘other space creation’ which accounted for 55% of all extrication incidents (2,292 incidents), followed by ‘roof removal’ which accounted for 28% (1,186 incidents).

These have been the most common methods of extrication since data became available in the year ending March 2010. See table FIRE0907 for more information.

5. Medical incidents

Medical co-responding incidents are incidents defined in the Incident Recording System (IRS) as, ‘the mobilisation of trained fire crews to provide emergency medical assistance to members of the public’.

Medical co-responding is where a formal agreement is in place with ambulance trusts. This differs to medical first responder incidents where no such agreement is in place. Co-responding involves both fire and ambulance services deploying to time critical incidents such as cardiac arrests.

5.1 Key results

In the year ending March 2022 FRSs attended:

  • 18,241 medical incidents, an increase of 32% compared with the year ending March 2021 (13,809)

  • 60% fewer medical incidents compared with (45,756) the year ending March 2017, (when EMR trials were in operation), but an increase of 51% compared with (12,080) the year ending March 2012

The total number of non-fire incidents attended by FRSs has been collected since the year ending March 2000. However, it was only when the online IRS was introduced in the year ending March 2010 that information on the type of incident was collected.

Between the year ending March 2010 and the year ending March 2011, no distinction was made between first responder and co-responder medical incidents. From the year ending March 2012, these were recorded separately. As services were transitioning to recording co-responder incidents separately in the year ending March 2012, it is recommended that comparisons between years are only undertaken from the year ending March 2013 onwards.

Between 2015 and 2017 the NJC supported trials of EMR, where many FRSs formed agreements with ambulance trusts to undertake health and care related work, in particular co-responding. On 18 September 2017, the FBU removed support for EMR trials.

The large increase in non-fire incidents attended by FRSs in the year ending March 2016 and the year ending March 2017 can be attributed to a large rise in the number of medical incidents attended. Medical incidents accounted for over half (61%)[footnote 8] of the large increase in non-fire incidents between the year ending March 2015 to the year ending March 2017.

The proportion of non-fire incidents that were medical incidents steadily rose from 7% in the year ending March 2010 to a peak of 26% in the year ending March 2017. Since then, this proportion has fallen to 9% in the year ending March 2022. See table FIRE0901 for more information.

In the year ending March 2022, FRSs attended 18,241 medical incidents, a 32% increase compared with the year ending March 2021, but a similar number to that seen pre-pandemic (18,349 in 2019 to 2020).

Figure 5.1: Number of medical incidents, England, year ending March 2011 to year ending March 2022

Source: FIRE0901: Non-fire incidents attended, by type of incident and fire and rescue authority, England

Notes:

  1. In the year ending March 2011, no distinction was made between first responder and co-responder medical incidents, but from the year ending March 2012, these were recorded separately.
  2. As services were still becoming accustomed to recording co-responder incidents separately in the year ending March 2012. It is recommended that comparisons are only undertaken from the year ending March 2013.

5.3 Medical co-responding incidents

This section looks at medical co-responding incidents in greater detail, as this category comprises the majority of medical incidents attended.

There were around 12,000 medical co-responding incidents in the year ending March 2013 (when FRSs began separately recording the 2 categories of medical incidents consistently). This increased to around 14,000 in the year ending March 2015. The next 2 years showed large year-on-year increases, followed by a period of decreases between the years ending March 2018 March 2021.

In the year ending March 2022, the number of medical co-responding incidents increased by 28% on the year ending March 2021, to 12,567. However, the year ending March 2021 was impacted by COVID-19 restrictions. Comparing the year ending March 2022 figure to pre-pandemic levels (2019 to 2020), shows a 9% decrease. See FIRE0901 for further detail.

FRSs attend different types of co-responding incident. These range from those where no action is required, to people having difficulty breathing, collapsing or experiencing a cardiac arrest.

When looking at the specific sub-categories from the IRS, in the year ending March 2022, ‘breathing difficulties/impairment/respiratory arrest’ accounted for the highest proportion of co-responding incidents (27%, 3,387 incidents), followed by ‘chest pain/cardiac arrest/heart condition’ (25%, 3,204 incidents). These 2 incident types have been the most common medical co-responding incidents since comparable data became available in the year ending March 2013. See FIRE0902 for further detail.

5.4 Fatalities in medical co-responding incidents

Details of fatalities and non-fatal casualties in co-responding incidents (where formal co-responder agreements are in place), are completed if the FRS had an active involvement, for example, ‘touched’ the fatality or non-fatal casualty.

There were 141 fatalities in co-responding incidents in the year ending March 2013. This increased by over 17 times to 2,420 in the year ending March 2017, but fell by 50% to 1,202 in the year ending March 2018. The rise and fall of this figure around this time was likely due to the EMR trials beginning in 2015 and ending 2017.

In the year ending March 2022, fatalities in co-responding incidents increased to 329 following 3 years of successive decreases. See FIRE0904c for further detail.

Similarly, the fatality rate peaked in the year ending March 2017 (64 per 1,000 incidents), in line with implementation of the EMR trials, before decreasing to levels seen before the trials. Since the year ending March 2020 (17 fatalities per 1,000 incidents), there were 2 successive year-on-year increases to 26 fatalities per 1,000 incidents in the year ending March 2022.

In the year ending March 2022, ‘unable to resuscitate, confirmed dead at scene’ accounted for 64% of all fatalities for co-responding incidents and ‘thought to be already dead when firefighter arrived’ accounted for 30%. These have been the 2 most common circumstances of fatalities since comparable data became available in the year ending March 2013. See FIRE0904c for further detail.

5.5 Medical incidents per 100,000 people

The number of ‘medical incidents’ attended by FRSs per 100,000 people was on a slow upward trend from when the data were first collected in the year ending March 2010, until the year ending March 2015. During the 2 years of EMR trials, the rate increased to a peak of 83, before declining.

The next 2 years showed large increases. However, from the year ending March 2018 to the year ending March 2021, medical incidents per 100,000 people steadily decreased. This pattern can be attributed to the medical co-responding pilot trials beginning and ending.

In the year ending March 2022, FRSs attended 32 medical incidents per 100,000 people in England. This compared with a rate of 24 in the year ending March 2021 and a rate of 20 in the year ending March 2010. See FIRE0903 for further detail.

When the rate of medical incidents per 100,000 people is analysed by FRS[footnote 9], Lincolnshire had the highest rate at (299), followed by Humberside (257) and Kent (190).

The FRS that attended the fewest medical incidents per 100,000 people (excluding Isles of Scilly as they had none in the year ending March 2022) was Essex, with a rate of 2, followed by Northumberland with a rate of 3. See FIRE0903 for further detail.

6. Collaborating incidents

Collaborating incidents are incidents that could involve collaboration with other emergency services, not including medical incidents.

The following non-fire incident types are classed as incidents that could involve collaborating:

  • effecting entry/exit
  • assist other agencies
  • suicide/attempts

6.1 Key results

In the year ending March 2022 FRSs attended:

  • 31,522 ‘effecting entry/exit’ incidents; this compares with 24,243 in the year ending March 2021 (an increase of 30%), and 20,648 in the year ending March 2017 (an increase of 53%)

  • 25,533 ‘assist other agencies’ incidents; this compares with 20,013 in the year ending March 2021 (an increase of 28%), and 10,223 in the year ending March 2017 (an increase of 150%)

  • 2,583 ‘suicide/attempts’ incidents; this compares with 2,096 in the year ending March 2021 (an increase of 23%), and 1,493 in the year ending March 2017 (an increase of 73%)

Between the year ending March 2010 and the year ending March 2015, the 3 collaborating incident types showed little change. However, since then there has been a steady increase in each incident type, with a large increase in the year ending March 2022, compared with the year ending March 2021 and with pre-pandemic levels. The exception to these increases was a decrease in ‘effecting entry/exit’ in the year ending March 2021, likely due to COVID-19 restrictions (see Figure 6.1).

The increases coincide with the duty to collaborate legislation which announced a statutory duty to collaborate imposed on all 3 emergency services. This legislation was given Royal Assent in January 2017 with a public consultation prior to this. The increasing trend coincides with the EMR trials, which ran from 2015 to 2017 (see ‘medical incidents’).

Figure 6.1: Number of collaborating incidents, England, year ending March 2010 to year ending March 2022

Source: FIRE0901: Non-fire incidents attended, by type of incident and fire and rescue authority, England

Fire and rescue services (FRSs) can be classified as ‘metropolitan’ or ‘non-metropolitan’.

FRSs can also be classified as ‘rural/urban’.

There is further information about the classifications used in this analysis, defined by Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs (DEFRA).

Predominantly urban: 74% or more of the FRS area is ‘urban’.

Predominantly rural: 50% or more of the FRS area is ‘rural’.

Significantly rural: less than 74% of the FRS area is ‘urban’ and 26% or more of their area is ‘rural’.

Rural (combined): figures for this category are the sum of the ‘predominantly rural’ and ‘significantly rural’ categories.

Since the year ending March 2015, the number of collaborating incidents attended has increased substantially for all FRS types. Consequently, the proportion of non-fire incidents attended that are collaborating incidents has increased for all FRS types.

Non-metropolitan FRSs have had the largest increase in collaborating incidents, both in absolute numbers and proportion of non-fire incidents attended.

Since 2014 to 2015:

  • the number of collaborating incidents attended by ‘metropolitan’ FRSs has more than doubled from 10,784 to 23,031, and the number attended by ‘non-metropolitan’ FRSs has more than tripled from 10,362 to 36,607

  • the proportion of non-fire incidents accounted for by collaborating incidents in ‘metropolitan’ FRSs increased from 22% to 29%, and the proportion in ‘non-metropolitan’ FRSs increased from 13% to 32%

  • the number of collaborating incidents attended by ‘predominantly urban’ FRSs has more than doubled from 13,627 to 31,461, and the number attended by ‘rural (combined)’ FRSs has more than tripled from 7,519 to 28,177

  • the proportion of non-fire incidents accounted for by collaborating incidents in ‘predominantly urban’ FRSs increased from 22% to 31%, and the proportion in ‘rural (combined)’ FRSs increased from 12% to 31%

At an FRS level, for 38 of the 44 FRSs the number of collaborating incidents has more than doubled since 2014 to 2015.

Figure 6.2: Number of collaborating incidents by FRS type, England, year ending March 2010 to year ending March 2022

Source: FIRE0901: Non-fire incidents attended, by type of incident and fire and rescue authority, England

Notes:

  1. Metropolitan FRSs are a subset of predominantly urban FRSs.

Figure 6.3: Proportion of non-fire incidents accounted for by collaborating incidents by FRS type (metropolitan / non-metropolitan), England, year ending March 2010 to year ending March 2022

Source: FIRE0901: Non-fire incidents attended, by type of incident and fire and rescue authority, England

6.4 Collaborating incidents per 100,000 people

The number of collaborating incidents attended per 100,000 people, for each of the 3 collaborating incident types, follow a similar pattern of being relatively stable between the year ending March 2010, and the year ending March 2015. There has been a trend of increases since then, except for a slight reduction in the rate of ‘effecting entry/exit’ in the year ending March 2021. See FIRE0903 for further detail.

In the year ending March 2022, FRSs attended 56 ‘effecting entry/exit’ incidents per 100,000 people in England. This compared with a rate of 43 in the year ending March 2021, and a rate of 37 in the year ending March 2017.

The FRS that attended the most ‘effecting entry/exit’ incidents per 100,000 people in the year ending March 2022 was Greater London with a rate of 115. Suffolk and Warwickshire attended the least (excluding Isles of Scilly as they had none), with rates of 14.

In the year ending March 2022, FRSs attended 45 ‘assist other agencies’ incidents per 100,000 people in England. This compared with a rate of 35 in the year ending March 2021 and a rate of 18 in the year ending March 2017. The FRS that attended the most ‘assist other agencies’ incidents per 100,000 people in the year ending March 2022 was East Sussex, with a rate of 131, with Tyne and Wear attending the least with a rate of 7 (excluding Isles of Scilly due to their small population having a large impact on their incident rates).

In the year ending March 2022, FRSs attended 5 ‘suicide/attempts’ incidents per 100,000 people in England. This compared with a rate of 4 in the year ending March 2021, and a rate of 3 in the year ending March 2017. As in the year ending March 2021, the FRS that attended the most ‘suicide/attempts’ incidents per 100,000 people in the year ending March 2022 was Tyne and Wear with a rate of 16. The lowest rate recorded, by several FRSs, was 2 (excluding Isles of Scilly as they had none).

7. Lift release incidents

Fire and rescue services (FRSs) attend different types of ‘lift release’ incidents, ranging from those where no persons were involved, to those where a medical case or a person in distress was involved.

Release means to give freedom or free movement to someone or something where minimal equipment is used. For example, winding a lift car up or down and opening the door in a lift release.

7.1 Key results

In the year ending March 2022, FRSs attended 11,086 ‘lift release’ incidents. This compares with 7,931 in the year ending March 2021 (an increase of 40%) and 10,980 in the year ending March 2017, (an increase of 1%)

7.2 Types of lift release incident

When looking at the specific sub-categories from the IRS, in the year ending March 2022, ‘for able bodied person not in distress’ accounted for the highest proportion of lift release incidents (71%), followed by ‘for person in distress’ (17%) and ‘no persons involved’ (6%).

The proportion of lift release incidents accounted for by each subcategory has remained broadly stable since the year ending March 2013. See FIRE0902 for further detail.

Figure 7.1: Lift release incidents attended by FRSs by detailed type of action, England, year ending March 2010 to year ending March 2022

Source: FIRE0902: Non-fire incidents attended by detailed type of action, England

Notes:

  1. Other includes ‘no persons involved’, ‘for child’, ‘other’ and ‘for medical case’.

8. Flooding and rescue or evacuation from water

Flooding incidents include those caused by:

  • burst water mains
  • flooding in open ground
  • weather-related incidents such as flash flooding

The types of incident recorded in the Incident Recording System (IRS) range from those where no action is required, to pumping out or making safe and evacuation. In instances where a flood affects more than one home, fire and rescue services (FRSs) record an incident for each home they visit. In extreme circumstances, however, it is difficult for FRSs to give an accurate recording of each incident attended as they may have to move rapidly from one home to another when assisting with a flood.

‘Rescue or evacuation from water’ includes incidents in which people are rescued from a river or a lake or those in which people are stranded where water is rising.

Rescues or evacuations cover a wide range of circumstances from those where people are rescued from a swimming pool, pond, lake or the sea to being in a vehicle surrounded by water.

8.1 Key results

In the year ending March 2022, fire and rescue services attended:

  • 17,388 flooding and rescue or evacuation from water incidents; an increase of 6% compared with the year ending March 2021 (16,393) and an increase of 15% compared with the year ending March 2017 (15,099)

  • 31 flooding and rescue or evacuation from water incidents per 100,000 people in England, compared with 29 in the year ending March 2021 and 27 in the year ending March 2017

8.2 Flooding and rescue or evacuation from water overview

The IRS records FRS attendance at ‘flooding’ and ‘rescue or evacuation from water’ incidents. These data were first collected for the year ending March 2010 when the online IRS was introduced.

The number of ‘flooding’ and ‘rescue or evacuation from water’ incidents has fluctuated since data became available in the year ending March 2010. There is a notable low point in the year ending March 2012 (12,560 incidents) followed by a peak in the year ending March 2013 (19,607 incidents).

In the year ending March 2022, there were 17,388 flooding and rescue or evacuation from water incidents, a 6% increase compared with the year ending March 2021 (16,393). The number of incidents in the year ending March 2022 was the third highest number in the time series behind the peaks in years ending March 2013 (19,607) and March 2020 (17,542).

8.3 Flooding and rescue or evacuation from water incidents per 100,000 people

Similarly, to the number of incidents, the rate of flooding and rescue or evacuation from water incidents attended per 100,000 people in England has fluctuated since the data were first collected in the year ending March 2010.

In the year ending March 2022, FRSs attended 31 flooding and rescue or evacuation from water incidents per 100,000 people in England. At an FRS level, Greater London attended the most flooding and rescue or evacuation from water incidents per 100,000 people with a rate of 99. Humberside attended the fewest (excluding Isles of Scilly as they had none) with a rate of 4.

9. Non-fire false alarms

Non-fire false alarms are categorised as either ‘malicious’ or ‘good intent’.

Malicious non-fire false alarms are calls made with the intention of getting the fire and rescue service (FRS) to attend a non-existent incident, including deliberate and suspected malicious intentions.

Good intent non-fire false alarms are calls made in good faith in the belief that the FRS really would attend a special service incident.

9.1 Key results

In the year ending March 2022, fire and rescue services attended:

  • 8,117 non-fire false alarms; an increase of 22% compared with the year ending March 2021 (6,675), and an increase of 34% compared with the year ending March 2017 (6,047)

9.2 Non-fire false alarms overview

The IRS records data on both fire and non-fire false alarms (from the year ending March 2010).

The number of fire false alarms is significantly greater than the number of non-fire false alarms (over 25 times greater in each of the last 5 years). Fire-false alarms are published in table FIRE0104 and discussed in fire and rescue incident statistics releases.

The number of non-fire false alarms fell year-on-year from a peak of 13,208 in the year ending March 2010, to a low of 5,244 in the year ending March 2015. Since the year ending March 2015, the number has steadily increased, except for a reduction in the year ending March 2021 (possibly due to COVID-19 restrictions). In the year ending March 2022 there were 8,117 non-fire false alarms, a 22% increase compared with the year ending March 2021 (6,675), but a 39% decrease compared with the year ending March 2010 (13,208).

Although the number of non-fire false alarms has followed a similar overall trajectory to the number of fire false alarms, the number of non-fire false alarms has exhibited a greater rate of change in both, the period of decline between the years ending March 2010 and March 2015, and the subsequent period of modest increase. For further detail see Figure 9.1 which shows indexed values of fire false alarms and non-fire false alarms relative to their respective 2009 to 2010 baselines. Each data point in the chart shows the number of fire or non-fire false alarms as a proportion of the year ending March 2010 figures.

The proportion of non-fire incidents that are false alarms fell from 9% in the year ending March 2010, to 4% in the year ending March 2014 and has remained at this figure in all but one year since.

In the year ending March 2017, there was a marginal decrease to 3%, the lowest proportion since data became available in the year ending March 2010. This reduction coincided with the increase in medical incidents attended in the year ending March 2017, due to the EMR trials. Medical incidents accounted for 26% of all non-fire incidents that year compared with 13% on average between the years ending March 2010 and March 2022.

The proportion of non-fire false alarms that are malicious slowly decreased from 6% in the year ending March 2011, to 3% in the year ending March 2014. This figure has remained stable at 3% in each year since. Conversely, the proportion of non-fire false alarms that are good intent slowly increased between the years ending March 2010 (95%) and 2014 (97%) and has remained stable since.

Figure 9.1 Indexed fire and non-fire false alarms, England, years ending March 2009 to March 2022

Indexed values, year ending March 2010 = 100

Source: FIRE0102 and FIRE0901: Non-fire incidents attended, by type of incident and fire and rescue authority, England

9.3 Non-fire false alarms per 100,000 people

The number of non-fire false alarms per 100,000 people was on a downward trend from when the data were first collected in the IRS, in the year ending March 2010 until the year ending March 2015. Since then, the number of non-fire false alarms per 100,000 people has gradually increased but remains much lower than in the year ending March 2010.

In the year ending March 2022, there were 14 non-fire false alarms per 100,000 people in England. This compared with 12 in the year ending March 2021 and 25 in the year ending March 2010.

At an FRS level[footnote 17], Hertfordshire had the most non-fire false alarms per 100,000 people with 27, followed by West Yorkshire with 26 and Greater London with 25. The FRS with the least non-fire false alarms per 100,000 people was Suffolk with 2 followed by Northumberland and Surrey with 3.

10. Summary of changes over time

Table 10.1: Number of non-fire incidents, comparing the year ending March 2022 with one, 5 and 10 years previously

Non-fire incident type Year ending Mar 2022 Year ending Mar 2021 1 year change Year ending Mar 2017 5 year change Year ending Mar 2012 10 year change
Total 194,609 151,006 +29% 174,680 +11% 133,520 +46%
Collaborating incidents 59,638 46,352 +29% 32,364 +84% 20,588 +190%
Road traffic collisions (RTCs) 30,625 22,521 +36% 29,919 +2% 28,343 +8%
Medical incidents 18,241 13,809 +32% 45,756 -60% 12,080 +51%
Flooding and rescue or evacuation from water 17,388 16,393 +6% 15,099 +15% 12,560 +38%
Lift release 11,086 7,931 +40% 10,980 +1% 14,176 -22%
False alarms 8,117 6,675 +22% 6,047 +34% 9,947 -18%
Other 49,514 37,325 +33% 34,515 +43% 35,826 +38%

Source: FIRE0901: Non-fire incidents attended, by type of incident and fire and rescue authority, England

Table 10.2: Number and rate of fatalities and non-fatal casualties in non-fire incidents, comparing the year ending March 2022 with one, 5 and 10 years previously

Fatalities and non-fatal casualties Year ending Mar 2022 Year ending Mar 2021 1 year change Year ending Mar 2017 5 year change Year ending Mar 2012 10 year change
Number of fatalities 3,298 2,747 +20% 5,112 -35% 1,634 +102%
Rate of fatalities per 1,000 non-fire incidents 17 18 -7% 29 -42% 12 +38%
Number of non-fatal casualties 40,768 30,358 +34% 51,935 -22% 29,314 +39%
Rate of non-fatal casualties per 1,000 non-fire incidents 209 201 +4% 297 -30% 220 -5%

Source: FIRE0904: Fatalities and non-fatal casualties in non-fire incidents by fire and rescue authority and non-fire incident type (main categories), England

This release contains statistics about incidents attended by fire and rescue services (FRSs) in England. The statistics are sourced from the Home Office’s online Incident Recording System (IRS). This system allows FRSs to complete an incident form for every incident attended, be it a fire, a false alarm, or a non-fire incident (also known as a Special Service incident).

The online IRS was introduced in April 2009. Previously, paper forms were submitted by FRSs and an element of sampling was involved in the data compilation process.

Fire and Rescue Incident Statistics and other Home Office statistical releases are available via the statistics at Home Office pages on the GOV.UK website.

Data tables linked to this release and all other fire statistics releases can be found on the Home Office’s Fire statistics data tables page.

Guidance for using these statistics and other fire statistics outputs, including a quality report, is available on the fire statistics guidance page.

The information published in this release is kept under review, taking into account the needs of users and burdens on suppliers and producers, in line with the Code of Practice for Statistics.

The Office for Statistics Regulation recently carried out a compliance check of the Home Office’s fire and rescue incident statistics against the Code of Practice. The results can be found in a letter to the Home Office’s Head of Profession published on the OSR website.

If you have any comments, suggestions or enquiries, please contact the team via email using firestatistics@homeoffice.gov.uk.

10.1 Revisions

The IRS is a continually updated database, with FRSs adding incidents daily.

The figures in this release refer to records of incidents that occurred up to and including 31 March 2022. This includes incident records that were submitted to the IRS by 3 October 2022, when a snapshot of the database was taken for the purpose of analysis. As a snapshot of the dataset was taken on 3 October 2022, the statistics published may not match those held locally by FRSs and revisions may occur in the future. This is particularly the case for statistics with relatively small numbers, such as fire-related fatalities. For instance, this can occur because coroner’s reports may mean the initial view taken by the FRS will need to be revised; this can take many months, even years, to do so.

10.2 COVID-19 and the impact on the IRS

The figures presented in this release relate to non-fire incidents attended by FRSs during the year ending March 2022, and includes comparison to the year ending March 2021.

In response to the coronavirus pandemic, restrictions in England, Scotland and Wales started from 12 March 2020.

In England, during the year ending March 2021, 3 lockdowns which applied strict limits on daily life were imposed. A first lockdown was applied on 23 March 2020 (slightly before the start of the year ending March 2021) and was eased from 10 May 2020. A second lockdown began on 5 November 2020 and ended on 2 December 2020 and the third began on 4 January 2021 and ended on 12 April 2021. The very tail end of the third lockdown is therefore captured in IRS data for the year ending March 2022.

Extra analysis of non-fire incidents throughout the various periods of lockdown can be found in Detailed analysis of non-fire incidents: England, April 2020 to March 2021.

There is further analysis of the impact of COVID-19 on incidents attended by FRSs in Fire and rescue incident statistics, England, year ending March 2021 and Detailed analysis of fires attended by fire and rescue services, England, April 2020 to March 2021.

Home Office publish 5 other statistical releases covering fire and rescue services.

Fire and rescue incident statistics, England

These provide quarterly statistics on trends in England for:

  • fires
  • casualties
  • false alarms
  • non-fire incidents attended by fire and rescue services

Detailed analysis of fires attended by fire and rescue services in England

These focus on:

  • fires attended by fire and rescue services across England
  • fire-related fatalities
  • non-fatal casualties in those fires; including analyses of the causes of fires and smoke alarms ownership and operation

Fire and rescue workforce and pensions statistics

These focus on:

  • total workforce numbers
  • workforce diversity
  • information regarding leavers and joiners
  • pension fund income and expenditure and firefighters’ pension schemes membership
  • information on incidents involving attacks on firefighters

Fire prevention and protection statistics, England

These focus on trends in:

  • smoke alarm ownership
  • fire prevention
  • protection activities by fire and rescue services

Response times to fires attended by fire and rescue services, England

These cover statistics on:

  • trends in average response times to fires attended by fire and rescue services

The Department for Levelling Up, Housing and Communities also publish statistical releases on fire

These include:

Fire statistics are published by the other UK nations.

Scottish fire statistics and Welsh fire statistics are published based on the IRS.

Fire statistics for Northern Ireland are published by the Northern Ireland Fire and Rescue Service using data from a system similar to the Incident Recording System. This means that they are not directly comparable to English, Welsh and Scottish data.

10.4 National statistics

These statistics have been assessed by the UK Statistics Authority to ensure that they continue to meet the standards required to be designated as National Statistics.

This statistical bulletin is produced to the highest professional standards and is free from political interference. It has been produced by statisticians working in accordance with the Home Office’s Statement of compliance with the Code of Practice for Official Statistics, which covers Home Office policy on revisions and other matters.

The Chief Statistician, as Head of Profession, reports to the National Statistician with respect to all professional statistical matters. They oversee all Home Office National Statistics products with respect to the Code, being responsible for their timing, content and methodology. This means that these statistics meet the highest standards of trustworthiness, impartiality, quality and public value, and are fully compliant with the Code of Practice for Statistics.

  1. Data on specific non-fire incident types is available from the year ending March 2010 onward. See table FIRE0901 for the full list of non-fire incident types. ↩

  2. Percentages may not sum to 100% due to rounding. ↩

  3. Medical incidents - contains the ‘medical incident - first responder’ and ‘medical incident - co-responder’ categories. ↩

  4. Other - contains the ‘other transport incident’, ‘other rescue / release of persons’, ‘animal assistance incidents’, ‘removal of objects from people’, ‘hazardous materials incident’, ‘spills and leaks (not RTC)’, ‘making safe (not RTC)’, ‘evacuation (no fire)’, ‘water provision’, ‘advice only’, ‘stand by’ and ‘no action (not false alarm)’ categories. ↩

  5. Collaborating incidents include ‘Assisting other agencies’, ‘Effecting entry or exit’ and ‘Suicide or suicide attempts’. ↩

  6. Excluding ‘false alarms’ as these do not entail any fatalities by definition, ‘lift release’ as the numbers are too small to provide reliable rates and ‘other’ as this category consists of disparate incident types hence the rate is not meaningful. ↩

  7. For more detail about the types of medical incident attended see FIRE0902. ↩

  8. Before the year ending March 2018, Hampshire FRS did not record medical co-responding incidents in the IRS. They are currently undertaking a project to upload this data for the year ending March 2018 to the year ending March 2021. ↩

  9. The number of non-fire false alarms per 100,000 people can vary greatly for Isles of Scilly due to its small population and the typically small number of non-fire false alarms. This region has therefore been excluded from this analysis. ↩

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