National statistics

Detailed analysis of non-fire incidents: England, April 2022 to March 2023

Published 14 December 2023

Applies to England

© Crown copyright 2023

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This publication is available at https://www.gov.uk/government/statistics/detailed-analysis-of-non-fire-incidents-year-ending-march-2023/detailed-analysis-of-non-fire-incidents-england-april-2022-to-march-2023

Frequency of release: Annual

Forthcoming releases: Home Office statistics release calendar

Home Office responsible statistician: Helene Clark

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Telephone: 0300 123 3535

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 2023 (1 April 2022 to 31 March 2023). The statistics are sourced from the Home Office’s online Incident Recording System (IRS) and include statistics on all non-fire incidents and 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 ending June 2023. For the latest headline findings on non-fire incidents numbers see Fire and rescue incident statistics: England year ending June 2023, published 26 August 2022.

1. Key results (KR)

In the year ending March 2023

  • there were 199,195 non-fire incidents, a 2.3% increase compared with the previous year, a 15% increase compared with 5 years ago and a 47% increase compared with 10 years ago

  • collaborating incidents account for an increasing proportion of non-fire incidents, up from 14% in the year ending March 2010 to 32% in the year ending March 2023

  • there were 19,228 flooding and rescue or evacuation from water incidents, an 11% increase compared with last year, a 15% increase compared with 5 years ago, but a 1.9% decrease compared with 10 years ago

Figure KR.1: Number of non-fire incidents by main categories, England, year ending March 2011 to year ending March 2023

  • there were 3,875 fatalities in non-fire incidents, a 17% increase compared with last year (3,298), but virtually unchanged compared with 5 years ago (3,882) and a 144% increase compared with 10 years ago (1,589)

  • there were 20 fatalities per 1,000 non-fire incidents, with the fatality rate peaking at 30 per 1,000 non-fire incidents in the year ending March 2017, when medical incidents contributed more to the incident mix

Figure KR.2: Number of non-fire incidents and rate of fatalities per 1,000 incidents, England, year ending March 2011 to year ending March 2023

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 (RTCs), animal assistance, effecting entry/exit and assisting other agencies.

Each year the content of this release is reviewed to ensure topics of interest are reported. This year’s release includes chapters covering:

  • overall trends in non-fire incidents

  • fatalities and non-fatal casualties

  • road traffic collisions

  • medical incidents

  • collaborating incidents

  • flooding and rescue or evacuation from water incidents and non-fire false alarms

  • summary of other incident types

2.1 Key results

In the year ending March 2023, FRSs attended:

  • 199,195 non-fire incidents, a 2.3% increase compared with the previous year (194,644), and a 15% increase (172,734) compared with 5 years ago (source: FIR0901)

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

  • effecting entry/exit, 33,388 incidents, a 5.9% increase compared with the previous year

  • RTCs, 31,175 incidents, a 1.8% increase compared with the previous year

  • assisting other agencies, 27,458 incidents, a 7.5% increase compared with the previous year

  • flooding and rescue or evacuation from water, 19,228 incidents, an 11% increase compared with the previous year

  • medical incidents, 16,902 incidents, a 7.4% decrease compared with the previous year

Between the year ending March 2000 and the year ending 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. Additionally, in 2017 the Policing and Crime Act placed a duty on emergency services to collaborate Police and Crime Act 2017.

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, likely due to the impact of 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 to 194,644.

In the latest year, the number of non-fire incidents increased to 199,195, the largest number recorded since data became available in the year ending March 2000.

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 FRSs in England, by incident type, year ending March 2011 to the year ending March 2023

Source: FIRE0102

Notes:

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

2.3 Categories of non-fire incidents

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.

For ease of presentation and analysis in this release and its related tables, some non-fire incident types 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’, ‘Effecting 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

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

In the year ending March 2023, the categories that had the highest numerical increase compared to the previous year were:

  • assisting other agencies, increasing by 1,921 incidents

  • effecting entry/exit, increasing by 1,862 incidents

  • flooding and rescue or evacuation from water, increasing by 1,840 incidents

  • lift release, increasing by 1,475 incidents

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, comparing the year ending March 2023 with one, 5 and 10 years previously

Non-fire incident type Year ending March 2023 Year ending March 2022 1-year change Year ending March 2018 5-year change Year ending March 2013 10-year change
Total 199,195 194,644 +2.3% 172,734 +15% 135,089 +47%
Collaborating incidents 63,672 59,646 +6.7% 39,251 +62% 20,410 +212%
Of which, assist other agencies 27,458 25,537 +7.5% 13,516 +103% 4,060 +576%
Of which, effecting entry/exit 33,388 31,526 +5.9% 24,110 +38% 15,279 +119%
Of which, Suicide (including attempts) 2,826 2,583 +9.4% 1,625 +74% 1,071 +164%
Lift release 12,561 11,086 +13% 11,258 +12% 12,648 -0.7%
Medical incidents 16,902 18,243 -7.4% 32,852 -49% 14,689 +15%
Road Traffic Collision 31,175 30,638 +1.8% 30,058 +3.7% 27,930 +12%
False alarms 9,103 8,121 +12% 6,774 +34% 6,340 +44%
Flooding and rescue or evacuation from water 19,228 17,388 +11% 16,695 +15% 19,607 -1.9%
Other 46,554 49,522 -6.0% 35,846 +30% 33,465 +39%

Source: FIRE0901

Notes:

Medical incidents - contains the ‘Medical incident - First responder’ and ‘Medical incident - Co-responder’ categories.

  1. Flooding and rescue or evacuation from water - contains the ‘Flooding’ and ‘Rescue or evacuation from water’ categories.
  2. False alarms - contains the ‘Malicious False Alarm’ and ‘Good Intent False Alarm’ non-fire categories.
  3. There are 12 incident types included in the ‘Other’ category[footnote 3]

Table FIRE0902 provides more detail on the action taken under each of the 23 specific non-fire incident types.

As seen in Table 2.1, trends have varied across the non-fire incident main categories (see Figure 2.2) over the last 10 years. RTCs have steadily increased, with the exception of a steep drop in the year ending March 2021, during which there were restrictions on life due to the COVID-19 pandemic. Both the ‘assisting other agencies’ and ‘effecting entry/exit’ categories have seen large increases in incidents attended by FRSs over the last 10 years.

Medical incidents attended saw a sharp increase around the year ending March 2017, predominantly due to the introduction of the EMR trials; however, in the latest year the number of medical incidents attended has fallen to a similar level to before the commencement of the trials. 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.

Figure 2.2 below shows the change in proportion of incidents by type over time. Typically, the proportion of collaborating incidents has been increasing, while the proportion of the other main categories of non-fire incidents has been decreasing. In the year ending March 2023, the trends were:

  • collaborating incidents accounted for 32% of non-fire incidents, compared with 15% 10 years ago

  • RTCs incidents accounted for 16% of non-fire incidents, compared with 21% 10 years ago

  • medical incidents accounted for 8.5% compared with 11% 10 years ago

  • flooding and rescue or evacuation from water accounted for 9.7% compared with 15% 10 years ago

Figure 2.2: Proportion of non-fire incidents attended by main categories, England, year ending March 2011 to year ending March 2023

Lift release and non-fire false alarms have also shown notable increases in recent years. In the latest year:

  • FRSs attended 12,561 Lift release incidents, a 13% increase compared with the previous year and a 12% increase compared to the year ending March 2018

  • FRSs attended 9,103 non-fire false alarms, an increase of 12% compared with the previous year, and an increase of 34% compared with 5 years ago

Source: FIRE0901

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 (that is, in general the more non-fire incidents FRSs attend, it is likely that the number of fatalities and non-fatal casualties will increase). Therefore, the rates of fatalities and non-fatal casualties per 1,000 incidents are also presented to understand the changing profile of fatalities and non-fatal casualties. 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).

The rates of fatalities and non-fatal casulaties per 1,000 incidents exclude non-fire false alarms.

Key results

In year ending March 2023, there were:

  • 3,875 fatalities in non-fire incidents, a 17% increase compared with last year (3,298), virtually unchanged compared with 5 years ago (3,882) and a 144% increase compared with 10 years ago (1,589)

  • 20 fatalities per 1,000 non-fire incidents attended, compared with 18 in the previous year, 23 per 1,000 non-fire incidents 5 years ago and 12 per 1,000 non-fire incidents 10 years ago

  • 42,282 non-fatal casualties in non-fire incidents, a 3.7% increase compared with last year (40,782), a 7.3% decrease compared with 5 years ago (45,612) and a 46% increase compared with 10 years ago (28,910)

  • 222 non-fatal casualties per 1,000 non-fire incidents attended, compared with 219 in the previous year, 275 per 1,000 non-fire incidents 5 years ago and 225 per 1,000 non-fire incidents 10 years ago

Fatalities in non-fire incidents

Detailed comparable data on fatalities in non-fire incidents attended by FRSs first became available for the year ending March 2011 and 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), peaking at 5,112 fatalities in the year ending March 2017. The termination of EMR trials led to a sharp decrease in the number of fatalities attended by FRSs to around 2,500 fatalities in the year ending March 2019, following the termination of EMR trials. Since the year ending March 2020, the number of fatalities has increased, reaching 3,875 in the latest year.

Table 3.1: Number of fatalities in non-fire incidents and percentage change, England, comparing the year ending March 2023 with one, 5 and 10 years previously

Non-fire incident type Year ending March 2023 Year ending March 2022 1-year change Year ending March 2018 5-year change Year ending March 2013 10-year change
Assist other agencies 1,012 760 +33% 571 +77% 207 +389%
Medical incidents 624 411 +52% 1,555 -60% 197 +217%
Road Traffic Collision 658 684 -3.8% 740 -11% 661 -0.5%
Flooding and rescue or evacuation from water 124 141 -12% 108 +15% 95 +31%
Effecting entry/exit 787 683 +15% 398 +98% 40 +1,868%
Suicide (including attempts) 356 325 +9.5% 275 +29% 199 +79%
Other 314 294 +6.8% 235 +34% 190 +65%
Total 3,875 3,298 +17% 3,882 -0.2% 1,589 +144%

Source: FIRE0904a and FIRE0904b

The main drivers of the overall increase in total fatalities in the year ending March 2023 compared with the previous year, was an increase in the number of fatalities in medical incidents (an increase of 213 compared with the previous year, up 52%) and collaborating incidents (an increase of 387 compared with the previous year, up 22%).

A better metric to understand the profile of fatalities against the number of incidents is the rate of fatalities per 1,000 incidents (See Table 3.2).

The non-fire incident type category with the highest rate of fatalities in the year ending March 2023 was suicide (including attempts) with a rate of 126 per 1,000 incidents[footnote 4]. The nature of this incident type means it is likely to entail a high fatality rate. However, 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.

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

As in the previous 7 years, the non-fire incident type with the lowest rate of fatalities in the year ending March 2023 was flooding and rescue or evacuation from water, with a rate of 6 per 1,000 incidents. This figure has remained broadly stable between 4 and 8 fatalities per 1,000 incidents since data became available in year ending March 2011.

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 2023 with one, 5 and 10 years previously

Non-fire incident type Year ending March 2023 Year ending March 2022 1-year change Year ending March 2018 5-year change Year ending March 2013 10-year change
Total 20 18 +15% 23 -13% 12 +65%
Suicide (including attempts) 126 126 0% 169 -26% 186 -32%
Assist other agencies 37 30 +24% 42 -13% 51 -28%
Medical incidents 37 23 +64% 47 -22% 13 +175%
Road traffic collision 21 22 -5.5% 25 -14% 24 -11%
Effecting entry/exit 24 22 +8.8% 17 +43% 3 +800%
Flooding and rescue or evacuation from water 6 8 -20% 6 0% 5 +33%

Source: FIRE0904b

Notes:

  1. Rates for ‘other’ are not meaningful because of the wide variety of incident types included within it, therefore, are excluded from this summary table.

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 2023

Source: FIRE0904b

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.

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

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 and 2017, which coincided with the EMR trials. Between the years ending March 2017 and 2021, the number of non-fatal casualties fell each year. This was likely due to the reduction in the number of medical incidents attended by FRSs during this time and the COVID-19 restrictions in place for much of the year ending March 2021.

In the most recent 2 years, the number of non-fatal casualties has increased, reaching 42,282 in the year ending March 2023.

The non-fire incident categories with the largest annual changes in non-fatal casualties in percentage terms in the latest year were:

  • assist other agencies, 14% increase (888 incidents)
  • suicide (including attempts), 9.9% increase (35 incidents)
  • medical incidents, 8.2% increase (592)

In terms of injury severity, of the 42,282 non-fatal casualties in non-fire incidents, these were recorded as:

  • 16,214 (38%) as ‘hospital slight’, a 1.2% increase on the previous year

  • 10,101 (24%) as ‘hospital severe’, a 4.1% increase on the previous year

  • 4,916 (12%) as requiring first aid, a 0.5% decrease on the previous year

  • 6,748 (16%) as requiring precautionary checks, a 19% increase on the previous year

  • 4,303 (10%) as unknown, a 3.7% decrease on the previous year

All these proportions are the same as in the previous year.

Figure 3.2: Number of non-fatal casualties in non-fire incidents, by injury severity, England, year ending March 2011 to year ending March 2023

Source: FIRE0904d

Notes:

  1. Excludes injury severities recorded as unknown.

4. Road traffic collisions (RTCs)

RTCs Incidents that require the attendance of the 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 table FIRE0302 for the latest data on these incidents. RTC’s incidents reported in this publication only include those attended by FRSs and do not reflect all RTC incidents that occur in England. See the Department for Transport (DfT) publication on Reported road collisions, vehicles and casualties tables for Great Britain for all RTCs.

Key results

In the year ending March 2023:

  • FRSs attended 31,175 RTCs in England, this was a 1.8% increase compared with last year, a 3.7% increase compared with 5 years ago, but a 12% increase compared with 10 years ago

  • FRS attendance at RTCs peaked during the evening rush hour between 17:00 and 18:00

RTC incidents overview

Between the years ending March 2010 (the first year data was collected) and 2013, the number of RTCs attended 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 2023, FRSs attended 31,175 RTCs, a 1.8% increase compared with the previous year, but a very similar level compared with the year ending March 2020 that is, pre-pandemic.

In the year ending March 2023, the rate of fatalities at RTCs was 21 per 1,000 incidents, 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 2023 were:

  • making the scene safe (34%, 10,485)

  • making the vehicle safe (30%, 9,432)

  • extrication of person(s) (12%, 3,785)

The proportion of different action types in the year ending March 2023 was broadly consistent with previous years.

Figure 4.1: RTCs by detailed type of action, England, year ending March 2013 to year ending March 2023

Source: FIRE0902

Notes:

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

RTCs and time of day

In the year ending March 2023, FRS attendance at RTCs was most common during the ‘late afternoon and evening’ hours (15:00 to 19:00). The proportion of RTCs in each hour band generally increased, peaking in the hour 17:00 to 18:00, when 6.8% of RTCs occurred. The proportion of RTCs reduced in each hour time band following the 17:00 to 18:00 peak. When looking at the ‘morning’ hours (06:00 to 12:00), incidents peaked between 08:00 and 09:00. These peaks coincide with the morning and evening rush hours, when there are typically more vehicles on the road.

Table 4.1: Number and proportion of RTC incidents and fatalities by time of day, England, year ending March 2023

Time of day Number of RTCs Fatalities in RTCs % of RTCs with a fatality
Total 31,175 (100%) 658 (100%) 2.1%
Late morning and early afternoon (06:00 to 14:00) 10,666 (34%) 217 (33%) 2.1%
Late afternoon and evening (14:00 to 22:00) 14,285 (46%) 260 (40%) 1.8%
Night and early morning (22:00 to 06:00) 6,224 (5,974) 181 (28%) 2.9%

Source: FIRE0901 and FIRE0906

Fatalities in RTCs show more fluctuation throughout the day, peaking late afternoon (15:00 to 16:00) and in the evening (19:00 to 20:00). Similar to RTC incident numbers, the fatalities occurred less frequently after midnight when there are typically less vehicles on the road. Although there are fewer fatalities after midnight, the proportion of RTCs with a fatality was higher.

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 2023

Source: FIRE0906

Notes:

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

The proportion of RTC incidents attended by time of day was broadly similar year ending March 2023 compared with pre-pandemic figures (year ending March 2020).

Rate of RTCs per 100,000 people

In the year ending March 2023, there were 55 RTCs attended by FRSs per 100,000 people in England, similar to the previous year, 5 years ago and 10 years ago.

At an FRS level, West Midlands attended the most RTCs per 100,000 people, as in the previous year, with 92, followed by Lincolnshire (91) and Hereford and Worcester (85). The FRS with the fewest RTCs per 100,000 people (excluding the Isles of Scilly as they had none the year ending March 2023) was West Yorkshire, as in the previous year, with 25. See table FIRE0903 for more information.

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 that is, trapped in a vehicle RTC. It includes extrication of fatal victims from an RTC incident.

Of the 31,175 RTCs attended by FRSs in the year ending March 2023, 12% (3,785) involved the extrication of at least one person. This compared with 13% (3,970) the previous year, 17% 5 years ago (5,041) and 25% 10 years ago (6,944). 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 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 2023, the most common method of extrication was ‘Other space creation’, which accounted for 58% of all extrication incidents (2,309 incidents), followed by ‘Roof removal’ which accounted for 24% (961 incidents). These have been the most common methods of extrication since data became available in 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.

Key results

In the year ending March 2023, FRSs attended:

  • 16,902 medical incidents, a 7.4% decrease compared with the previous year (18,243), a 49% decrease compared with 5 years ago (32,852) when EMR trials were in operation, but a 15% increase compared with 10 years ago (14,689)

The total number of medical 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 years ending March 2010 and 2011, there was no distinction 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 these incidents separately, it is recommended that comparisons between years are only undertaken from the year ending March 2013 onwards. Figure 5.1 illustrates the transition in reporting, and the trend in medical incidents over time.

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 years ending March 2016 and 2017 can be attributed to a large rise in the number of medical incidents attended. Medical incidents accounted for over half (61%)[footnote 5] of the large increase in non-fire incidents between the years ending March 2015 and 2017. The proportion of non-fire incidents that were medical incidents steadily rose from 6.7% in the year ending March 2010 to a peak of 26% in the year ending March 2017. Since then, this proportion has fallen to 8.5% in the year ending March 2023 (16,902). See FIRE0901 for more information.

Figure 5.1: Number of medical incidents, England, year ending March 2010 to year ending March 2023

Source: FIRE0901

When looking at the specific sub-categories from the IRS, in the year ending March 2023, ‘Breathing difficulties/Impairment/Respiratory arrest’ accounted for the highest proportion of incidents (20%, 3,430 incidents), followed by ‘lift person’ (19%, 3,246 incidents). These 2 incident types have been the most common medical incidents since comparable data became available in year ending March 2013. See FIRE0902 for further detail.

Fatalities in medical incidents

Details of fatalities and non-fatal casualties in medical incidents are completed if the FRS had an active involvement that is, ‘touched’ the fatality or non-fatal casualty.

There were 189 fatalities in medical incidents in the year ending March 2011. This increased by over 16 times to 3,104 in the year ending March 2017 but fell by 50% to 1,555 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 following 3 years, the number of fatalities dropped to 294. In the latest 2 years, the number of fatalities increased to 624 in the year ending March 2023. See FIRE0904c for further detail.

Similarly, the fatality rate peaked in year ending March 2017 (68 per 1,000 incidents), in line with implementation of the EMR trials, before decreasing to levels seen before the trials. Since year ending March 2020 (16 fatalities per 1,000 incidents), there were 3 successive year-on-year increases to 37 fatalities per 1,000 incidents in year ending March 2023.

In the year ending March 2023, ‘Unable to resuscitate, confirmed dead at scene’ accounted for 62% of all fatalities for medical 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 year ending March 2013. See FIRE0904c for further detail.

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.

However, from the year ending March 2018 to 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 2023, FRSs attended 30 medical incidents per 100,000 people in England. This compared with a rate of 32 in the previous year 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 6], Humberside had the highest rate at (219), followed by Lincolnshire (159) and Gloucestershire (143). 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 2023) was Essex, 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 (including attempts)

Key results

In the year ending March 2023:

  • FRSs attended 33,388 ‘effecting entry/exit’ incidents, this was a 5.9% increase compared with last year, a 38% increase compared with 5 years ago and a 119% increase compared with 10 years ago

  • FRSs attended 27,458 ‘assist other agencies’ incidents, this was a 7.5% increase compared with last year, a 103% increase compared with 5 years ago and a 576% increase compared with 10 years ago

  • FRSs attended 2,826 ‘suicide/attempts’ incidents, this was a 9.4% increase compared with last year, a 74% increase compared with 5 years ago and a 164% increase compared with 10 years ago

Between the years ending March 2010 and 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 year ending March 2023, compared with the previous year and with pre-pandemic levels. The exception to these increases was a decrease in ‘effecting entry/exit’ in 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 also coincides with the EMR trials, which ran from 2015 to 2017 (see Chapter 5).

Figure 6.1: Number of collaborating incidents, England, year ending March 2010 to year ending March 2023

Source: FIRE0901

FRSs can be classified as ‘Metropolitan’ or ‘Non-metropolitan’.

FRSs can also be classified as rural or 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.

Metropolitan FRSs are a subset of predominantly urban FRSs.

Since year ending March 2015, the number of collaborating incidents attended has increased substantially for all FRS types, and consequently the proportion of non-fire incidents attended that are collaborating incidents has increased for all FRS types. The trends in collaborating incidents by FRS type were:

  • the number of collaborating incidents attended by ‘Metropolitan’ FRSs has more than doubled from 10,784 to 25,448 and the number attended by ‘Non-metropolitan’ FRSs has more than tripled from 10,362 to 38,224

  • the proportion of non-fire incidents accounted for by collaborating incidents in ‘Metropolitan’ FRSs increased from 22% to 30% and the proportion in ‘Non-metropolitan’ FRSs increased from 13% to 33%

  • the number of collaborating incidents attended by ‘Predominantly urban’ FRSs has more than doubled from 13,627 to 34,619 and the number attended by ‘Rural (combined)’ FRSs has more than tripled from 7,519 to 29,053

  • the proportion of non-fire incidents accounted for by collaborating incidents in ‘Predominantly urban’ FRSs increased from 22% to 32% and the proportion in ‘Rural (combined)’ FRSs increased from 12% to 32%

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

At an FRS level, for 40 of the 44 FRSs the number of collaborating incidents has more than doubled since year ending March 2015.

Figure 6.2: Number of collaborating incidents by FRS type, England, year ending March 2011 to year ending March 2023

Source: FIRE0901

Figure 6.3: Proportion of non-fire incidents accounted for by collaborating incidents by FRS type (Metropolitan / Non-metropolitan), England, year ending March 2011 to year ending March 2023

Source: FIRE0901

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. Since then, there was a trend of increases, 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 2023, FRSs attended 59 ‘effecting entry/exit’ incidents per 100,000 people in England. This compared with a rate of 56 the previous year and a rate of 43 in the year ending March 2018. The FRS that attended the most ‘effecting entry/exit’ incidents per 100,000 people in the year ending March 2023 was Greater London with a rate of 124, while Suffolk attended the least (excluding Isles of Scilly as they had none) with a rate of 13.

In the year ending March 2023, FRSs attended 49 ‘assist other agencies’ incidents per 100,000 people in England. This compared with a rate of 45 the previous year and a rate of 24 in in the year ending March 2018. The FRS that attended the most ‘Assist other agencies’ incidents per 100,000 people in year ending March 2023 was East Sussex with a rate of 138, while Tyne and Wear attended the least with a rate of 8 (excluding Isles of Scilly due to their small population having a large impact on their incident rates).

In the year ending March 2023, FRSs attended 5 ‘suicide (including attempts)’ incidents per 100,000 people in England, equal to the rate in the previous year and higher than the rate of 3 in the year ending March 2018. As in the previous year, the FRSs that attended the most ‘suicide (including attempts)’ incidents per 100,000 people in year ending March 2023 was Cleveland and Tyne and Wear with rates of 15. The lowest rate recorded, by Humberside and Warwickshire, was one (excluding Isles of Scilly as they had none).

7. 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 incidents recorded in the IRS range from those where no action was required, to pumping out or making safe and evacuation. In instances where a flood affects more than one property, FRSs record an incident for each property 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 property to another when assisting with a flood.

Rescue or evacuation from water incidents 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.

Key results

In the year ending March 2023, FRSs attended:

  • 19,228 flooding and rescue or evacuation from water, an 11% increase compared with last year, a 15% increase compared with 5 years ago, but a 1.9% decrease compared with 10 years ago

  • 34 flooding and rescue or evacuation from water incidents per 100,000 people in England, compared with 31 in the previous year and 30 from 5 years ago, and 37 from 10 years ago

Flooding and rescue or evacuation from water overview

The IRS records FRS attendance at ‘Flooding’ and ‘Rescue or evacuation from water’ incidents. This data was 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 year ending March 2010, with a notable low point in year ending March 2012 (12,560 incidents) followed by a peak in the following year (19,607 incidents).

In year ending March 2023, there were 19,228 flooding and rescue or evacuation from water incidents. The number of incidents in year ending March 2023 was the second highest number in the time series behind the peak in year ending March 2013 (19,607).

Figure 7.1: Rainfall (mm) and the number of flooding and rescue or evacuation from water incidents, England, year ending March 2011 to year ending March 2023

Source: FIRE0901 and the Met Office

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 was first collected in year ending March 2010.

In year ending March 2023, FRSs attended 34 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 95. Humberside attended the fewest (excluding Isles of Scilly as they had none) with a rate of 3.

Figure 7.2 Flooding and rescue or evacuation from water incidents per 100,000 people by Fire and Rescue Services (FRSs), year ending March 2023

8. Summary of changes over time

Table 8.1: Number of non-fire incidents, comparing the year ending March 2023 with one, 5 and 10 years previously

Non-fire incident type Year ending March 2023 Year ending March 2022 1-year change Year ending March 2018 5-year change Year ending March 2013 10-year change
Total 199,195 194,644 +2.3% 172,734 +15% 135,089 +47%
Collaborating incidents 63,672 59,646 +6.7% 39,251 +62% 20,410 +212%
Road Traffic Collision 31,175 30,638 +1.8% 30,058 +3.7% 27,930 +12%
Medical incidents 16,902 18,243 -7.4% 32,852 -49% 14,689 +15%
Flooding and rescue or evacuation from water 19,228 17,388 +11% 16,695 +15% 19,607 -1.9%
Lift release 12,561 11,086 +13% 11,258 +12% 12,648 -0.7%
False alarms 9,103 8,121 +12% 6,774 +34% 6,340 +44%
Other 46,554 49,522 -6.0% 35,846 +30% 33,465 +39%

Source: FIRE0901

Table 8.2: Number and rate of fatalities and non-fatal casualties in non-fire incidents, comparing the year ending March 2023 with one, 5 and 10 years previously

Fatalities and non-fatal casualties Year ending March 2023 Year ending March 2022 1-year change Year ending March 2018 5-year change Year ending March 2013 10-year change
Number of fatalities 3,875 3,298 +17% 3,882 -0.2% 1,589 +144%
Rate of fatalities per 1,000 non-fire incidents 20 18 +15% 23 -13% 12 +65%
Number of non-fatal casualties 42,282 40,782 +3.7% 45,612 -7.3% 29,810 +46%
Rate of non-fatal casualties per 1,000 non-fire incidents 222 219 +2% 275 +6% 225 -4%

Source: FIRE0904

9. Further information

This release contains statistics about incidents attended by FRSs (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 and 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.

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 2023. This includes incident records that were submitted to the IRS by 25 August 2023, when a snapshot of the database was taken for the purpose of analysis. As a snapshot of the dataset was taken on 25 August 2023, 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.

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 2023 and includes comparison to the year ending March 2022. The very tail end of the third lockdown is therefore captured in IRS data for the year ending March 2023. In response to the COVID-19 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 (that is, 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.

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 FRSs, England, April 2020 to March 2021.

Home Office publish 5 other statistical releases covering FRSs.

These include:

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

This includes:

  • the English Housing Survey: fire and fire safety report: fire and fire safety report focuses on the extent to which the existence of fire and fire safety features vary by household and dwelling type and this report focuses on whether people felt safe from fire in their homes by household and dwelling type

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, which means that they are not directly comparable to English, Welsh and Scottish data.

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 and oversees 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 2009 to 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. 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. ↩

  4. 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. ↩

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

  6. 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. ↩

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