Accredited official statistics

Fire and rescue incident statistics: England, year ending June 2024

Published 24 October 2024

Applies to England

© Crown copyright 2024

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This publication is available at https://www.gov.uk/government/statistics/fire-and-rescue-incident-statistics-england-year-ending-june-2024/fire-and-rescue-incident-statistics-england-year-ending-june-2024

Frequency of release: Quarterly

Forthcoming releases: Home Office statistics release calendar

Home Office responsible statistician: Mateus Ochoa

Telephone: 0300 123 3535

Public enquiries: firestatistics@homeoffice.gov.uk

This quarterly release contains statistics about incidents attended by fire and rescue services (FRSs) in England for the year ending June 2024 covering the last 10 years. The statistics are sourced from the Home Office’s online Incident Recording System (IRS) and include statistics on all incidents, fire-related fatalities, casualties from fires and response times to fires.

Key results

FRSs attended 594,384 incidents in the year ending June 2024, a decrease of 4.5% compared with the previous year (622,086). Of these incidents, there were 129,541 fires, a record low, and a decrease of 26% compared with the previous year (174,024). This reduction can be attributed to a decrease of 37% in secondary fires and a decrease of 42% in outdoor primary fires, as the comparator year covers the hot, dry summer of 2022.

Both outdoor primary fires and secondary fires are the lowest rolling year figures since comparable data became available.

Figure KR.1: Total incidents attended by incident type, England; the year ending June 2014 to the year ending June 2024

Source: FIRE0102

In the year ending June 2024, there were 233 fire-related fatalities in 220 fatal fires, compared with 286 fire-related fatalities in 266 fatal fires in the previous year.

Figure KR.2: Total fire-related fatalities, England; the year ending June 2014 to the year ending June 2024

Source: FIRE0502

1. Incident summary

Incidents that FRSs attend are categorised into fires, non-fire incidents and fire false alarms.

Key results

In the year ending June 2024:

  • 594,384 incidents were attended by FRSs, a decrease of 4.5% compared with the previous year (622,086), an increase of 3.6% compared with 5 years ago (573,979) and an increase of 15% compared with 10 years ago (516,681); Source: FIRE0102, figure KR.1
  • of all incidents attended by FRSs, fires accounted for 22%, fire false alarms 43% and non-fire incidents 35%, compared with fires accounting for 31%, fire false alarms 43% and non-fire incidents 26% 10 years ago; Source: FIRE0102, figure 1.1

Total incidents

Over the past decade, as shown in figure KR.1, the number of incidents attended by FRSs in England has been on a gradual, if fluctuating, upward trend. In the year ending June 2014, there were around 517,000 incidents attended, which had increased by around 15% to 594,000 by the year ending June 2024. The year ending June 2023 showed the most incidents attended (roughly 622,000) for over a decade, due to the hot, dry summer of 2022. When compared to that high figure, there was a decrease of 4.5% overall in the year ending June 2024.

As figure 1.1 shows, the share of incidents between incident types has changed over the past decade, with an increasing share of incidents being non-fire incidents over recent years. The share of fire incidents was 22% for the year ending June 2024, the lowest since comparable data became available, compared to 28% the previous year, and 31% 10 years ago.

Figure 1.1: Total incidents attended by incident type, England; the year ending June 2014 to the year ending June 2024

Source: FIRE0102

Notes:

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

2. Fires attended

Fire incidents attended are broadly categorised as primary, secondary or chimney fires depending on the location, severity and risk levels of the fire, and on the scale of response needed from FRSs to contain them.

Primary fires Those that meet at least one of the following criteria:
(i) occurred in a (non-derelict) building, vehicle or outdoor structure.
(ii) involved a fatality, casualty or rescue.
(iii) were attended by five or more pumping appliances.

Secondary fires Generally small outdoor fires, not involving people or property.

Chimney fires In (non-industrial) buildings where the flame was contained within the chimney structure.

Key results

In the year ending June 2024:

  • FRSs attended 129,541 fires, the lowest rolling year figure since data became available; Source: FIRE0102
  • fires decreased by 26% compared with the previous year (174,024) and decreased by 20% compared with 10 years ago (161,307); Source: FIRE0102
  • there were 60,846 primary fires, a record low and a decrease of 8.2% compared with the previous year (66,312), and a decrease of 15% compared with 10 years ago (71,786); Source: FIRE0102
  • there were 66,619 secondary fires, a record low, a decrease of 37% compared with the previous year (105,182) and a decrease of 21% compared with 10 years ago (84,242); Source: FIRE0102
  • FRSs attended 704 fires in purpose-built high-rise (10 or more storeys) flats or maisonettes, a decrease of 3.6% compared with the previous year (730); Source: FIRE0205

Total fires

Over the past decade, as shown in figure 2.1, the number of fires attended by FRSs in England has fluctuated between around 129,000 and 183,000. The number of fires is affected by the weather and the summers of 2013, 2018 and 2022 were hot and dry, which caused high numbers of fires in those years, particularly outdoor primary and secondary fires.

Figure 2.1: Total fires attended by type of fire, England; year ending June 2014 to year ending June 2024

Source: FIRE0102

Outdoor fires in 2022

The year ending June 2023 showed a high number of fires attended (roughly 174,000) compared to figures over the last decade, due to the hot, dry summer of 2022, when there was a large number of outdoor fires. During the quarter July to September 2022, there were 48,322 secondary fires (this was the largest number of secondary fires in any quarter since April to June 2010, which had 49,635) and 3,997 primary other outdoor fires. Compared to the high figure of roughly 174,000 total fires for year ending June 2023, there was a decrease of 26% in the year ending June 2024, to around 130,000. These numbers are the lowest since records began, for both primary other outdoor and secondary fires.

The increase in outdoor fires was further discussed in Fire and rescue incident statistics: England, year ending September 2022 Total outdoor fires for summer 2022 and the Outdoor fires section of the Detailed analysis of fires attended by fire and rescue services, England, April 2022 to March 2023 release.

Winter 2024

The 2 quarters covering the winter and spring of 2023 and 2024, covering the quarters of October to December 2023 and January to March 2024, were according to the Met Office especially wet, with average rainfall across all regions of the UK above the average. There were also 10 named storms in the period. These factors together may have had an impact on the overall number of outdoor fires, given there was a 42% reduction in primary other outdoor fires and a 37% reduction in secondary fires in the year ending June 2024, when compared to the previous year.

Primary fires

The number of primary fires (those considered to be the most serious or with a threat to life or property) has decreased over the past decade, from 71,786 in the year ending June 2014 to 60,846 in the latest year, the lowest value since comparable data became available.

Primary fires accounted for 47% of total fires in the year ending June 2024. This compares with 38% in the previous year, 39% 5 years ago and 45% 10 years ago. The proportion of total fires accounted for by primary fires has fluctuated year-on-year over the past decade. This proportion was at its highest since the year ending June 2016, due to the total number of fires decreasing more than the number of primary fires.

There were 38,189 building fires (dwelling and other building fires) in the year ending June 2024, which was 6.4% of all incidents, 29% of all fires and 63% of all primary fires. This share of incidents and fire types within primary fires has remained consistent over the past decade, as in the year ending June 2014 9.2% of all incidents, 29% of all fires and 66% of all primary fires were building fires.

3. Fire false alarms

Fire false alarms are where an FRS attends a location believing there to be a fire incident but, on arrival, discovers that no such incident exists or existed. These are broadly categorised by motive into ‘due to apparatus’, ‘good intent’ and ‘malicious’.

Due to apparatus

These calls are where a fire alarm or fire-fighting equipment operate (including accidental initiation by persons) in error.

Good intent

These calls are made in good faith in the belief that the FRS really would be attending a fire.

Malicious

These false alarms are made with the intention of getting the FRS to attend a non-existent incident.

Key results

In the year ending June 2024:

  • FRSs attended 255,581 fire false alarms, the largest rolling year figure since the year ending June 2011
  • fire false alarms increased by 3.6% compared with the previous year (246,747), increased by 11% compared with 5 years ago (229,978) and increased by 15% compared with 10 years ago (223,024); Source: FIRE0102

Fire false alarms by type

The number of fire false alarms attended by FRSs in England was on a general downward trajectory to a low of around 214,000 in the year ending June 2021.

Since then, with the exception of a period of decreases around the COVID-19 pandemic, there was a gradual increase in fire false alarms to around 256,000 in the year ending June 2024, the highest since year ending June 2011.

Figure 3.1: Total fire false alarms by type of false alarm, England; year ending June 2014 to year ending June 2024

Source: FIRE0102

Figure 3.1 shows the type of fire false alarm incidents by year. In the year ending June 2024, there were:

  • 184,581 fire false alarms due to apparatus (the highest rolling year figure in the past decade), an increase of 9.2% from the previous year (169,044), an increase of 23% from 5 years previously (150,411) and an increase of 24% from 10 years previously (148,726); Source: FIRE0104
  • 64,778 fire false alarms due to good intent, a decrease of 9.0% from the previous year (71,203), a decrease of 11% from 5 years previously (72,535) and a decrease of 3.1% from 10 years previously (66,850); Source: FIRE0104
  • 6,222 malicious fire false alarms, a decrease of 4.3% compared with the previous year (6,500), and a decrease of 12% from 5 years previously (7,032) and a decrease of 16% from 10 years previously (7,448); Source: FIRE0104

4. Non-fire incidents attended

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 and collaborating incidents such as effecting entry or exit and assisting other agencies (a complete list can be found in fire data table FIRE0902).

Key results

In the year ending June 2024:

  • FRSs attended 209,262 non-fire incidents, an increase of 3.9% compared with the previous year (201,315), an increase of 30% compared with 5 years ago (161,295) and an increase of 58% compared with 10 years ago (132,350); Source: FIRE0901
  • collaborating incidents were the largest proportion of non-fire incidents, and were at a record high with 70,015 incidents attended

Types of non-fire incidents

Figure 4.1 shows the number of non-fire incidents over the past decade had 2 clear increases - the first in the year ending June 2016 and the second in the year ending June 2022. It also shows the increase in medical incidents in the second half of the 2010s, the increase in collaboration incidents that started at roughly the same time but has continued into the 2020s, and an increase in other non-fire incidents in the 2020s.

The figure for the year ending June 2021, and in particular the number of RTCs, was affected by the COVID-19 pandemic.

Figure 4.1: Total non-fire incidents attended by FRSs, England; year ending June 2014 to year ending June 2024

Source: FIRE0901

Notes:

  1. “Other” incident type includes non-fire false alarms.

Over the past 10 years, the number of “other non-fire incidents” has increased from roughly 54,200 to approximately 74,800, an increase of 38%. The number of these incidents showed an increase of 5.3% compared to the previous year. This grouping contains a variety of incident types, as provided in Fire statistics definitions. The increase over the past decade in other non-fire incidents occurs for many of the sub-types in this wide-ranging category, though the largest increase was for “no action” - an incident type that covers occasions where a non-fire emergency call is made, but action is not required when the firefighters arrive at the scene. “No action” incidents comprise 7.0% of all non-fire incidents, but 20% of “other” non-fire incidents. Given there are more non-fire incidents generally, and more assisting other agencies incidents, it follows that the number of “no action” incidents increase as some non-fire incidents will inevitably end in no action.

Table 4.1 shows that collaborating incidents and RTCs increased in the year ending June 2024 compared with the previous year, whereas medical incidents and flooding incidents decreased.

Table 4.1: The main categories of non-fire incidents attended by FRSs in England; year ending June 2023 and year ending June 2024

Non-fire incident type Year ending June 2024 Year ending June 2023 % change
Total non-fire incidents 209,262 201,315 3.9%
Collaborating incidents 70,015 63,943 9.5%
Road traffic collisions (RTCs) 31,885 31,482 1.3%
Flooding incidents 17,485 18,577 -5.9%
Medical incidents 15,068 16,295 -7.5%
Other non-fire incidents 74,809 71,018 5.3%

Source: FIRE0901, FIRE0902

Collaborating incidents

In the year ending June 2024:

  • FRSs attended 70,015 collaborating incidents[footnote 2], this is the highest rolling year figure since the implementation of the online IRS; Source: FIRE0901
  • collaborating incidents accounted for 33% of non-fire incidents, an increase from 32% the previous year, 26% 5 years ago and 16% 10 years ago

The number of collaborating incidents has more than doubled from around 27,600 in year ending June 2016 to around 70,000 in year ending June 2024. These increases coincided with the introduction of the duty to collaborate legislation.

For the year ending June 2024, there were distinct changes in the 3 sub-categories of collaborating incidents on the previous year, with:

  • assisting other agencies increasing by 6.1% to 28,907
  • effecting entry or exit increasing by 12% to 37,998
  • assisting at suicide attempts increasing by 8.5% to 3,110

Medical incidents

In the year ending June 2024:

  • FRSs attended 15,068 medical incidents[footnote 3], a decrease of 7.5% compared with the previous year (16,295) and a decrease of 19% compared with 5 years ago (18,511), when emergency medical responding trials (EMR) were in operation; Source: FIRE0901
  • medical incidents accounted for 7.2% of non-fire incidents, a decrease from 8.1% the previous year and from 11% 5 and 10 years ago

Medical incidents peaked in the year ending June 2017 (44,847), during the EMR trials, and subsequently decreased. Since the year ending June 2019, the number of medical incidents attended has fluctuated between around 15,000 and 19,000 for a rolling year.

Road traffic collisions (RTCs)

In the year ending June 2024:

  • FRSs attended 31,885 RTCs, an increase of 1.3% compared to the previous year (31,482) and an increase of 2.1% compared with 5 years ago (31,228); Source: FIRE0901
  • RTCs accounted for 15% of non-fire incidents, virtually unchanged compared with the previous year but a decrease from 19% 5 years ago

RTCs generally increased from around 29,000 in the year ending June 2014 to around 31,200 in the year ending June 2019, before falling during the COVID-19 period to around 25,500 in the year ending June 2021. Subsequently the numbers have returned to a level similar to that seen prior to COVID-19.

Flooding incidents

In the year ending June 2024:

  • FRSs attended 17,485 flooding incidents, a decrease of 5.9% compared with the previous year (18,577) but an increase of 36% compared with 5 years ago (12,812); Source: FIRE0901
  • flooding incidents accounted for 8.4% of non-fire incidents, a decrease from 9.2% the previous year but an increase from 7.9% 5 years ago; Source: FIRE0901

The number of flooding incidents has fluctuated between around 12,000 and 19,000 over the past decade.

5. Fire-related fatalities and casualties

Fire-related fatalities
Those that would not have otherwise occurred had there not been a fire. For the statistical releases, a fire-related fatality includes those that were recorded as ‘don’t know’.

Non-fatal casualties
Those resulting from a fire, whether the injury was caused by the fire or not.

Fatal fires
Those resulting in at least one fatality that would not have otherwise occurred had there not been a fire.

As the IRS is a continually updated database, the statistics published in this release may not match those held locally by FRSs, and revisions may occur in the future (see the revisions section for further detail). This may be particularly relevant for fire-related fatalities, where a coroner’s report could lead to revisions in the data sometime after the incident. It should also be noted that the numbers of fire-related fatalities are prone to year-on-year fluctuations, due to relatively small numbers.

Key results

In the year ending June 2024:

  • there were 233 fire-related fatalities compared with 286 in the previous year (a decrease of 19%), the lowest figure for a year ending June period; Source: FIRE0502
  • there were 178 fire-related fatalities in dwelling fires, compared with 220 in the previous year (a decrease of 19%); Source: FIRE0502
  • there were 3 fatal fires resulting in a total of 3 fire-related fatalities in purpose-built high-rise flats (10 or more storeys) or maisonettes, compared to 4 fatal fires with 4 fire-related fatalities in the previous year; Source: FIRE0205
  • there were 6,245 non-fatal casualties[footnote 4], virtually unchanged compared with the 6,275 in the previous year; Source: FIRE0502
  • there were 2,718 non-fatal casualties requiring hospital treatment, virtually unchanged compared with the 2,712 in the previous year; Source: FIRE0502

Over the past decade, as shown in figure KR.2 and figure 5.1, the number of fire-related fatalities have fluctuated year-on-year. There were notable increases in the year ending June 2016 (288)[footnote 5] and the year ending June 2017 (343) - the latter of which included 71 fatalities as a result of the Grenfell Tower fire[footnote 6].

Some quarters have shown high numbers of fire-related fatalities over the past few years, resulting in increases in the rolling year figures since the turn of the decade. It should be noted that the number of fire-related fatalities, whether annual or quarterly, are prone to fluctuations due to relatively small numbers, and an especially low quarterly number can affect the yearly numbers substantially.

The number of fire-related fatalities, 63, in the most recent quarter (April to June 2024) compares to 59, 76 and 35 in the previous 3 quarters of the year ending June 2024, and with 80, 80, 84 and 42 for the respective quarters in the previous year.

Fire-related fatalities in dwelling fires were the largest category, accounting for 76% of fire-related fatalities in the year ending June 2024. During this year, there were 178 fire-related fatalities in dwelling fires, a decrease of 19% compared with 220 in the previous year.

As shown in figure 5.1, the percentage of primary fires that resulted in a fatality has ranged between 0.3% and just over 0.4% over the past 10 years. With the exception of the year ending June 2017, the ratio of fire-related fatalities and fires that resulted in at least one fatality has been relatively stable over the same period. There were 233 fire-related fatalities in the year ending June 2024, from 220 fires that resulted in at least one fatality. Therefore, 0.36% of fires resulted in a fatality in the year ending June 2024, compared to 0.40% in the previous year.

Figure 5.1: Total fire-related fatalities, primary fires that resulted in at least one fatality and the percentage of primary fires that resulted in a fatality England; year ending June 2014 to year ending June 2024

Source: FIRE0502

Notes:

  1. Fire-related fatalities are those that would not have otherwise occurred had there not been a fire. Those where the role of fire was “not known” are included in “fire-related”.

Fatalities in high-rise flats and maisonettes

In the year ending June 2024, FRSs attended 704 fires in purpose-built high-rise (10 or more storeys) flats or maisonettes, a decrease of 3.6% compared with the previous year (730), a decrease of 13% compared with 5 years ago (808) and a decrease of 11% compared with 10 years ago (792).

Over the 5 year period ending in June 2024, FRSs attended 3,729 fires in purpose-built high-rise (10 or more storeys) flats or maisonettes, which resulted in 15 fatal fires and 17 fire-related fatalities. This compared to 3,930 fires, resulting in 19 fatal fires and 89 fire-related fatalities in the 5 year period ending in June 2019 (note that this 5-year span included the Grenfell Tower Fire).

Non-fatal casualties

The number of non-fatal casualties in fires in England has been on a downward trend in the past decade, with the “hospital slight” and “first aid” categories showing the biggest decline.

In the year ending June 2024, there were 6,245 non-fatal casualties, virtually unchanged compared with the previous year (6,275). The 4 sub-categories were as follows:

  • 539 hospital severe casualties, a decrease of 6.7% compared with the previous year
  • 2,179 hospital slight casualties, an increase of 2.1% compared with the previous year
  • 1,616 first aid casualties, a decrease of 4.3% compared with the previous year
  • 1,911 precautionary check casualties, an increase of 2.0% compared with the previous year

Figure 5.2: Total non-fatal casualties in fires by injury severity, England; year ending June 2014 to year ending June 2024

Source: FIRE0502

Notes:

  1. These figures are for all non-fatal casualties in fires, whether the fire caused the casualty or not.

6. Response times to fire incidents

Table FIRE1001 is published alongside this release and shows greater detail than this commentary, for example, breakdowns by time components. Full commentary and further tables for the year ending March 2024 can be found in Detailed analysis of fires attended and response times by fire and rescue services[footnote 7].

Key results

In the year ending June 2024:

  • the average total response time to primary fires[footnote 8] in England was 9 minutes and 1 second, a decrease of 15 seconds on the previous year; Source: FIRE1001
  • the average total response time to secondary fires[footnote 9] in England went from 9 minutes and 52 seconds to 9 minutes and 14 seconds, a decrease of 38 seconds; Source: FIRE1001

The decrease in the year ending June 2024 on the year ending June 2023 was due in part to the decreased number of fire incidents, especially outdoor fires since the hot dry summer of 2022 is in the comparator year.

Response times to fire incidents

Total response time
Defined as the minutes and seconds elapsed from the time of call to the arrival of the first vehicle at the incident.

The following incidents are not included in response time totals.

a. Road vehicle fires, where the road vehicle was abandoned.

b. Where the location of the fire was a derelict property.

c. Where an FRS learned of the fire when it was known to have already been extinguished (known as “late calls”).

d. Where the total response time for an incident was over an hour or less than one minute (to avoid erroneous data or exceptional incidents from skewing the averages).

e. Where the sequence of events (time of call - mobilisation - vehicle mobile - arrival at scene) in an incident is not recorded in a logical sequence, either through recording error (for example a vehicle appears to have arrived before it left) or absence of data (null values).

As shown in figure 6.1, response times to fires have increased gradually over the past decade. Within this gradual upward trend, there were spikes in the years ending June 2019 and June 2023, probably due to the greater number of incidents in those years. In spite of this general increase, there were 2 years with a decrease in response times; for the year ending June 2021, this was probably due to the impact of less traffic during the COVID-19 pandemic. For the year ending June 2024, this reflected the decrease in the number of incidents, relative to the high number of fires in the previous year.

Figure 6.1: Average total response times (minutes) by type of fire, England; year ending June 2014 to year ending June 2024

Source: FIRE1001

Notes:

  1. Y-axis is from 7 to 10 minutes.

All primary fires

The average response time to primary fires was 9 minutes and 1 second, in the year ending June 2024. This was:

  • a decrease of 15 seconds compared with the previous year (9 minutes and 16 seconds)
  • an increase of 12 seconds compared with 5 years ago (8 minutes and 49 seconds)
  • an increase of 40 seconds compared with 10 years ago (8 minutes and 21 seconds)

Dwelling fires

The average response time to dwelling fires was 8 minutes and 1 second, in the year ending June 2024. This was:

  • a decrease of 2 seconds compared with the previous year (8 minutes and 3 seconds)
  • an increase of 14 seconds compared with 5 years ago (7 minutes and 47 seconds)
  • an increase of 27 seconds compared with 10 years ago (7 minutes and 34 seconds)

Primary outdoor fires

The average response time to other outdoor fires was 11 minutes and 7 seconds, in the year ending June 2024. This was:

  • a decrease of 1 minute 29 seconds compared with the previous year (12 minutes and 36 seconds)
  • a decrease of 25 seconds compared with 5 years ago (11 minutes and 32 seconds)
  • an increase of 48 seconds compared with 10 years ago (10 minutes and 19 seconds)

It should be noted that other outdoor fires are numerically the smallest of the main primary fire types, accounting for 6.7% of primary fires in the year ending June 2024. The small number of primary outdoor fires means that the response times are prone to fluctuation, which can impact year-on-year comparisons. These incidents decreased by 42% from the previous year, reflecting the high number of outdoor fires in the hot dry summer of 2022.

Secondary fires

The average response time to secondary fires was 9 minutes and 14 seconds, in the year ending June 2024. This was:

  • a decrease of 38 seconds compared with the previous year (9 minutes and 52 seconds)
  • a decrease of 25 seconds compared with 5 years ago (9 minutes and 39 seconds)
  • an increase of 32 seconds compared with 10 years ago (8 minutes and 42 seconds)

The decrease in the average response time to secondary fires might reflect the 37% decrease in the number of these incidents attended compared with the previous year.

Road Vehicle fires

The average response time to road vehicle fires was 10 minutes and 7 seconds, in the year ending June 2024. This was:

  • an increase of 2 seconds compared with the previous year (10 minutes and 5 seconds)
  • an increase of 26 seconds compared with 5 years ago (9 minutes and 41 seconds)
  • an increase of 39 seconds compared with 10 years ago (9 minutes and 28 seconds)

The average response time to road vehicle fires is at it highest since comparable data became available, in spite of the 3.5% decrease in the number of these incidents attended compared with the previous year.

7. Summary of changes over time

Table 7.1: Number of incidents, comparing the year ending June 2024 with 1, 5 and 10 years previously

Incident Type Year ending June 2024 Year ending June 2023 1-year change Year ending June 2019 5-year change Year ending June 2014 10-year change
All incidents 594,384 622,086 -4.5% 573,979 3.6% 516,681 15%
Fires 129,541 174,024 -26% 182,706 -29% 161,307 -20%
Primary fires 60,846 66,312 -8.2% 72,105 -16% 71,786 -15%
Dwellings fires 25,260 26,519 -4.7% 29,168 -13% 31,318 -19%
Accidental dwelling fires 22,737 23,790 -4.4% 26,246 -13% 28,209 -19%
Outdoor primary fires 4,067 7,017 -42% 6,722 -39% 4,944 -18%
Secondary fires 66,619 105,182 -37% 107,216 -38% 84,242 -21%
Fire false alarms 255,581 246,747 3.6% 229,978 11% 223,024 15%
Non-fire incidents 209,262 201,315 3.9% 161,295 30% 132,350 58%
Fatalities and non-fatal casualties Year ending June 2024 Year ending June 2023 1-year change Year ending June 2019 5-year change Year ending June 2014 10-year change
Fire-related fatalities 233 286 -19% 266 -12% 243 -4.1%
Fire-related fatalities in dwellings 178 220 -19% 216 -18% 179 -0.6%
Non-fatal casualties 6,245 6,275 -0.5% 7,212 -13% 7,653 -18%
Non-fatal casualties requiring hospital treatment 2,718 2,712 0.2% 3,163 -14% 3,356 -19%
Non-fatal casualties in dwellings 4,633 4,591 0.9% 5,216 -11% 5,986 -23%

Table 7.3: Average response times, comparing the year ending June 2024 with 1, 5 and 10 years previously

Type of Fire Year ending June 2024 Year ending June 2023 1-year change Year ending June 2019 5-year change Year ending June 2014 10-year change
Primary fires 9m 01s 9m 16s -15s 8m 49s +12s 8m 21s +40s
Dwellings 8m 01s 8m 03s -2s 7m 47s +14s 7m 34s +27s
Other buildings 9m 03s 9m 01s +2s 8m 36s +27s 8m 08s +55s
Road vehicles 10m 07s 10m 05s +2s 9m 41s +26s 9m 28s +39s
Secondary fires 9m 14s 9m 52s -38s 9m 39s -25s 8m 42s +32s

Source: Fire statistics data tables

8. Further information

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).

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 the end of June 2024. This includes incident records that were submitted to the IRS by 27 August 2024, when a snapshot of the database was taken for the purpose of analysis. As a snapshot of the data set was taken on 27 August 2024, 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 incidents attended by FRSs during year ending June 2024. There were no restrictions in response to COVID-19 in the latest year or the 3 comparator years. In response to the COVID-19 pandemic, restrictions in England, Scotland and Wales started from 12 March 2020. In England, 3 lockdowns which applied strict limits on daily life were imposed. A first lockdown was applied on 23 March 2020 and was eased from 15 June 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 analyses on fire and rescue incidents during this period can be found in:

Additionally extra analysis on Detailed analysis of response times to fires: England, April 2021 to March 2022 is available.

Other related publications

Home Office publish 4 other statistical releases covering fire and rescue services.

These include:

The Response times to fires attended by fire and rescue services, England publication has been combined with Detailed analysis of fires and a link to the latest publication can be found above. For older versions of this publication check: Detailed Analysis of Fire Response Times

The Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government also publish statistical releases on fire.

These include:

  • the English Housing Survey: 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:

Accredited official statistics status

Following the National Statistics designation review by the Office for Statistics Regulation the term “Accredited Official Statistics” was introduced to describe National Statistics in September 2023. This release was, formerly badged as “National Statistics” and should now be considered “Accredited Official Statistics”. National Statistics is the legal term set out in the Statistics and Registration Service Act 2007 for “Accredited Official Statistics” that have been judged by the Office for Statistics Regulation (OSR)[footnote 8], to comply with the Code of Practice for Statistics (“the Code”). This means these statistics meet the standards of trustworthiness, quality and value as set out in “the Code”. Further information about accredited official statistics can be found on the OSR’s website.

Percentages greater than or equal to 10% have been rounded to the nearest whole number. The term ‘virtually unchanged’ is used in relation to percentage changes of less than 0.5%.

A rolling year in this release is any period of 4 quarters in a row, so either 1 January to 31 December, 1 April to 31 March, 1 July to 30 June or 1 October to 30 September.

  1. Collaborating incidents include “Assisting other agencies”, “Effecting entry or exit” and “Suicide or suicide attempts”. ↩

  2. Medical incidents include “First responder” and “Co-responder” incidents. ↩

  3. For more detailed technical definitions of fire-related and non-fatal casualties, see the Fire statistics definitions document. A further breakdown of the different types of non-fatal casualties is available in the published fire data tables. ↩

  4. For more information on the number of fire related fatalities in the year ending March 2016, see the Fire statistics monitor: April 2015 to March 2016. ↩

  5. On 4 September 2024, the final report of the inquiry was published. The findings of this report may affect future statistics that include the Grenfell Tower fire. For more information on the Grenfell Tower fire and how the associated fire-related fatalities figures are recorded, see the Fire statistics definitions document. ↩

  6. Previous versions of this release can be found in Detailed analysis of fire response Times ↩

  7. OSR are the regulatory arm of the UK Statistics Authority ↩ ↩2

  8. Secondary fires are generally small outdoor fires, not involving people or property. ↩

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