Accredited official statistics

Fire and rescue incident statistics, year ending December 2025

Published 29 April 2026

Applies to England

© Crown copyright 2026

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This publication is available at https://www.gov.uk/government/statistics/fire-and-rescue-incident-statistics-year-ending-december-2025/fire-and-rescue-incident-statistics-year-ending-december-2025

Frequency of release: Quarterly

Forthcoming releases: Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government statistics release calendar

MHCLG responsible statistician: Katrina Ihebunezie

Public enquiries: firestatistics@communities.gov.uk

Media enquiries: newsdesk@communities.gov.uk

The statistics in this release inform the government, fire and rescue services (FRSs), and local authorities. The data is used to inform policy of the most relevant headline statistics, enhancing decision making by providing an overview of the most recent incident statistics and the latest trends.

This quarterly release contains statistics about incidents attended by FRSs in England for the year ending December 2025 covering the last 10 years. Fire data were collected by the Incident Recording System (IRS) until November 2025. Since November 2025, fire data has been collected by the Fire and Rescue Data Platform (FaRDaP) and includes statistics on all incidents, fire-related fatalities, non-fatal casualties from fires and response times to fires.

Key results

FRSs attended 642,264 incidents in the year ending December 2025, an increase of 6.8% compared with the previous year (601,335). Of these incidents, there were 175,918 fires, which was an increase of 29% compared with the previous year (136,882).

Figure KR.1: Total incidents attended by incident type, England; the year ending December 2015 to the year ending December 2025

Source: FIRE0102

In the year ending December 2025, there were 283 fire-related fatalities in 266 fatal fires, compared with 257 fire-related fatalities in 235 fatal fires in the previous year.

Figure KR.2: Total fire-related fatalities, England; the year ending December 2015 to the year ending December 2025

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 December 2025:

  • 642,264 incidents were attended by FRSs, an increase of 6.8% compared with the previous year (601,335), an increase of 21% compared with 5 years ago (528,675) and an increase of 25% compared with 10 years ago (513,040); Source: FIRE0102, figure KR.1
  • of all incidents attended by FRSs, fires accounted for 27%, fire false alarms 39% and non-fire incidents 33%, compared with fires accounting for 32%, fire false alarms 41% and non-fire incidents 27% 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 December 2015, there were around 513,000 incidents attended. The total number of incidents had reached around 642,000 by the year ending December 2025. When the latest year is compared to the previous year, there was an increase of 6.8% in all incidents.

As figure 1.1 shows, the share of incidents between incident types has changed over the past decade. Over recent years, there has been an increasing share of non-fire incidents and a decreasing share of fire incidents.

Figure 1.1: Total share of incidents attended by incident type, England; the year ending December 2015 to the year ending December 2025

Source: FIRE0102

Notes:

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

Figure 1.2 shows the changing rate of incidents per 100,000 people by FRS over the past decade.

Between year ending December 2015 and December 2025, the FRSs with both the highest and lowest rates of incidents per 100,000 people have remained broadly consistent. FRSs with the highest incident rates include the most metropolitan and urban FRSs in the north east, north west and south east of England, while those with the lowest rates cover more rural and larger areas.

The number of incidents has increased in the vast majority of FRSs, and although population has increased in all local authorities in England, incident rates have also increased in the majority over this same period, driven primarily by non-fire incidents and fire false alarms. Between the year ending December 2015 and December 2025, the largest increase in incident rates was observed in Hertfordshire, increasing by 304 incidents per 100,000 people (41.7%), while Lincolnshire experienced the largest decrease in rates, falling by 375 incidents per 100,000 people (28.6%).

Figure 1.2: Rate of total incidents per 100,000 people by FRS for year ending December 2015 and 2025

Notes:

  1. Colour scale does not start at 0, but at lowest value for incidents per 100,000 people, and is the same for both figures
  2. Suffolk FRS could not submit all incidents before this date, due to technical reasons. Therefore, these statistics do not contain data for all incidents attended from September 2024 to September 2025 from Suffolk. The data will be revised in due course, as incidents are updated to the FaRDaP.

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 1 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 5 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 December 2025:

  • FRSs attended 175,918 fires, which increased by 29% compared with the previous year (136,882) and increased by 8.4% compared with 10 years ago (162,346); Source: FIRE0102
  • there were 66,832 primary fires, an increase of 9.3% compared with the previous year (61,163), but a decrease of 8.1% compared with 10 years ago (72,744); Source: FIRE0102
  • there were 7,037 outdoor primary fires, an increase of 62% compared with the previous year (4,352), and an increase of 36% compared with 10 years ago (5,183); Source: FIRE0102
  • there were 107,283 secondary fires, an increase of 46% compared with the previous year (73,676) and an increase of 26% compared with 10 years ago (84,944); Source: FIRE0102
  • FRSs attended 673 fires in purpose-built high-rise (10 or more storeys) flats or maisonettes, a decrease of 3.6% compared with the previous year (698); 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 136,000 and 184,000. The number of fires is affected by the weather. The summers of 2018, 2022 and 2025 were hot and dry, which caused high numbers of fires in those years, particularly outdoor primary and secondary fires.

A summer spike contributed to a higher annual total of secondary fires, with figures returning to typical seasonal levels by October to December 2025 (14,785). The total number of fires increased by 39,036 for the year ending December 2025, with a 45.6% increase in secondary fires.

Figure 2.1: Total fires attended by type of fire, England; year ending December 2015 to year ending December 2025

Source: FIRE0102

Figure 2.1 indicates increased outdoor fires in the year ending December 2025, reflecting hot, dry summer conditions similar to those seen in summer 2022.

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.

Primary fires accounted for 38% of total fires in the year ending December 2025. This compares with 45% in the previous year, 42% 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.

There were 40,350 building fires (dwelling and other building fires) attended by FRSs in the year ending December 2025, an increase of 5.5% compared with the previous year (38,240), virtually unchanged compared with 5 years ago (40,301) and a decrease of 15% compared with 10 years ago (47,242).

Building fires accounted for 6.3% of all incidents, 23% of all fires and 60% of all primary fires in the year ending December 2025.

Over the last 10 years this share has been steadily decreasing, from 9.2% of all incidents, 29% of all fires and 65% of all primary fires in the year ending December 2015.

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 December 2025:

  • FRSs attended 252,162 fire false alarms
  • fire false alarms were virtually unchanged compared with the previous year (252,449), increased by 14% compared with 5 years ago (220,427) and increased by 19% compared with 10 years ago (211,032); 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 December 2015.

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 252,000 in the year ending December 2025, one of the highest since the year ending December 2015. However, the number of fire false alarms has remained virtually unchanged since the previous year.

Figure 3.1: Total fire false alarms by type of false alarm, England; year ending December 2015 to year ending December 2025

Source: FIRE0102

Figure 3.1 shows the type of fire false alarm incidents by year. In the year ending December 2025, there were:

  • 169,153 fire false alarms due to apparatus, a decrease of 6.1% from the previous year (180,154), an increase of 18% from 5 years previously (143,675) and an increase of 21% from 10 years previously (140,031); Source: FIRE0104
  • 77,302 fire false alarms due to good intent, an increase of 16% from the previous year (66,410), an increase of 8.2% from 5 years previously (71,470) and an increase of 20% from 10 years previously (64,237); Source: FIRE0104
  • 5,707 malicious fire false alarms, a decrease of 3.0% compared with the previous year (5,885), an increase of 8.0% from 5 years previously (5,282) and a decrease of 16% from 10 years previously (6,764); 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 collaboration 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 December 2025:

  • Non‑fire incidents have increased steadily since 2021/22, with the year ending December 2025 marking the highest level of non-fire incidents attended (214,184) since the introduction of the online IRS in 2009; Source: FIRE0901
  • non-fire incidents increased by 1.0% compared with the previous year (212,004), increased by 38% compared with 5 years ago (154,915) and increased by 53% compared with 10 years ago (139,662); Source: FIRE0901

Types of non-fire incidents

The presentation of non-fire incidents has been updated since the previous release to improve clarity and interpretation for users. Bringing together non-fire incident types into a smaller number of groupings based on existing FaRDaP categories. These changes do not reflect any changes to underlying definitions, recording practices or data coverage. No new incident types have been introduced.

Figure 4.1 shows that over the last decade there has been a gradual increase in the number of non‑fire incidents, although this trend has been accompanied by year‑to‑year fluctuations.

It also shows the temporary 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.

Road traffic collisions attended by Fire and Rescue Services in the year ending December 2025 were broadly in line with the previous year. Over the last decade, incidents fell sharply in 2020 due to COVID-19 restrictions, before increasing steadily. Recent years have seen a modest rise, with levels now exceeding those seen prior to the pandemic.

Figure 4.1: Total non-fire incidents attended by FRSs, England; year ending December 2015 to year ending December 2025

Source: FIRE0901

Notes

  1. The ‘remaining’ category contains 10 different non-fire incident types. This includes lift release, removal of objects from people and animal assistance incidents. Additional categories may be found in FIRE0901 Source: FIRE0901

  2. The ‘flooding’ category contains the two smaller categories ‘flooding’ and ‘rescue or evacuation from water incidents’

  3. The ‘no action/advice’ category consists of the three smaller categories ‘No action (not false alarm)’, ‘advice only’ and ‘stand by’
  4. The ‘false alarm’ category shown within non‑fire incidents occurs when an FRS is mobilised in response to a non‑fire emergency call but when crews arrive no action is required. These incidents are recorded as non‑fire incidents because the original call was not fire‑related. They differ from fire false alarms, which occur when an FRS is mobilised to what is believed to be a fire incident but on arrival no fire is found

Table 4.1 shows that collaboration incidents and RTCs increased in the year ending December 2025 compared with the previous year, whereas medical incidents and flooding and rescue from water incidents decreased.

Table 4.1: The main categories of non-fire incidents attended by FRSs in England; year ending December 2024 and year ending December 2025

Non-fire incident type Year ending December 2025 Year ending December 2024 % change
Total non-fire incidents 214,184 212,004 1.0%
Collaboration incidents 74,663 72,790 2.6%
Road traffic collisions (RTCs) 33,001 32,012 3.1%
Flooding and rescue or evacuation from water 17,470 19,144 -8.7%
Medical incidents 11,031 14,350 -23%
No Action/ Advice 20,713 19,317 7.2%
False Alarm 10,778 9,972 8.1%
Remaining incidents 46,528 44,419 4.7%

Source: FIRE0901, FIRE0902

Collaboration incidents

In the year ending December 2025:

  • FRSs attended 74,663 collaboration incidents[footnote 1], this is the highest rolling year figure since the implementation of the online IRS in 2010; Source: FIRE0901
  • collaboration incidents accounted for 35% of non-fire incidents, an increase from 34% the previous year, 29% from 5 years ago and 17% from 10 years ago; Source: FIRE0901

The number of collaboration incidents has more than trebled from around 23,800 in the year ending December 2015 to around 74,700 in the year ending December 2025. These increases coincided with the introduction of the duty to collaborate legislation.

For the year ending December 2025, the 3 sub-categories of collaboration incidents have changed on the previous year as follows:

  • effecting entry or exit increased by 1.7% to 40,218; Source: FIRE0901
  • assisting other agencies increased by 3.8% to 31,197; Source: FIRE0901
  • assisting at suicide attempts increased by 1.6% to 3,248; Source: FIRE0901

Medical incidents

In the year ending December 2025:

  • FRSs attended 11,031 medical incidents[footnote 2], a decrease of 23% compared with the previous year (14,350) and a decrease of 23% compared with 5 years ago (14,305); Source: FIRE0901
  • medical incidents accounted for 5.2% of non-fire incidents, a decrease from 6.8% the previous year and from 9.2% 5 years ago; Source: FIRE0901

Medical incidents are substantially lower than levels observed during the mid‑2010s EMR (European Medical Responding) period and since the year ending December 2019, has fluctuated within a relatively narrow range (13,600 and 19,900) with no sustained upward or downward trend.

Road traffic collisions (RTCs)

In the year ending December 2025:

  • FRSs attended 33,001 RTCs, an increase of 3.1% compared to the previous year (32,012) and an increase of 34% compared with 5 years ago (24,587); Source: FIRE0901
  • RTCs accounted for 15% of non-fire incidents, compared with 15% in the previous year and 16% 5 years ago; Source: FIRE0901

RTCs generally increased from around 30,000 in the year ending December 2015 to around 31,500 in the year ending December 2019, before falling during the COVID-19 period to around 24,600 in the year ending December 2020. Since then, the number of RTCs has increased, reaching around 33,000 in the year ending December 2025, above pre‑COVID levels.

Flooding and rescue or evacuation from water incidents

In the year ending December 2025:

  • FRSs attended 15,820 flooding incidents, a decrease of 6.7% compared to the previous year (16,953) and an increase of 6.0% compared to 5 years ago (14,919); Source: FIRE0901
  • FRSs attended 1,650 rescue or evacuation from water incidents, a decrease of 25% compared with the previous year (2,191) and a decrease of 2.6% compared with 5 years ago (1,694); Source: FIRE0901
  • FRSs attended 17,470 flooding and rescue or evacuation from water incidents in the year ending December 2025, a decrease of 8.7% compared with the previous year (19,144), an increase of 5.2% compared with 5 years ago (16,613) and an increase of 24% compared with 10 years ago (14,096); Source: FIRE0901

The long‑term trend shows a higher number of flooding and rescue from water‑related incidents attended by fire and rescue services compared with a decade ago. Flooding and rescue or evacuation from water incidents generally increased over the last 10 years. The share of this group of incidents has decreased from 10% 10 years ago to 8.2% in year ending December 2025.

No Action/Advice

In the year ending December 2025:

  • FRSs attended 20,713 incidents categorised as ‘no action/advice’, an increase of 7.2% compared with the previous year (19,317) and an increase of 78.7% compared with 5 years ago (11,588); Source: FIRE0901

  • ‘no action/advice’ accounted for 9.7% of non-fire incidents, compared with 9.1% in the previous year and 7.5% 5 years earlier; Source: FIRE0901

Long‑term, the number of incidents categorised as ‘no action/advice’ has increased by 12,386 incidents (148.7%) since the year ending December 2015. The share of this group of incidents has increased from 8,327 incidents (6.0%) 10 years ago to 20,713 incidents (9.7%) in the year ending December 2025.

False Alarms

In the year ending December 2025:

  • FRSs attended 10,778 incidents categorised as ‘false alarms’, an increase of 8.1% compared with the previous year (9,972) and an increase of 58.5% compared with 5 years earlier (6,798); Source: FIRE0901

  • ‘false alarms’ accounted for 5.0% of non-fire incidents, compared with 4.7% in the previous year and 4.4% 5 years earlier; Source: FIRE0901

Over the last decade, the number of ‘False Alarm’ incidents has increased by 5,053 incidents (88.3%). The share of this group of incidents rose from 5,725 incidents (4.1%) 10 years earlier to 10,778 incidents (5.0%) in the year ending December 2025.

Remaining non-fire incidents

In the year ending December 2025:

  • FRSs attended 46,528 ‘remaining’ non-fire incidents, an increase of 4.7% compared with the previous year (44,419) and an increase of 31.1% compared with 5 years ago (35,480); Source: FIRE0901

  • ‘remaining’ non-fire incidents accounted for 21.7% of non-fire incidents, virtually unchanged from 21.0% in the previous year and down from 22.9% 5 years ago; Source: FIRE0901

Over the past 10 years, the number of ‘remaining’ non-fire incidents has increased from 34,198 to 46,528, an increase of 36.1%. This category covers 10 sub-types, of which most have had increases. However, the largest increase was for ‘evacuation (no fire)’ incidents. These incidents are recorded when fire and rescue services attend evacuations where no fire is present and the incident is not water-related. Given there are more non-fire incidents generally and particularly more assisting other agency incidents, it follows that the number of ‘evacuation (no fire)’ incidents has increased over time.

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 1 fatality that would not have otherwise occurred had there not been a fire.

As the FaRDaP 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 December 2025:

  • there were 283 fire-related fatalities compared with 257 in the previous year (an increase of 10%); Source: FIRE0502
  • there were 201 fire-related fatalities in dwelling fires, compared with 202 in the previous year (virtually unchanged ); Source: FIRE0502
  • there was 1 fatal fire resulting in 1 fire-related fatality in purpose-built high-rise flats (10 or more storeys) or maisonettes, compared to 2 fatal fires with 2 fire-related fatalities in the previous year
  • there were 6,838 non-fatal casualties[footnote 3], an increase of 7.3% compared with the 6,372 in the previous year; Source: FIRE0502
  • there were 3,027 non-fatal casualties requiring hospital treatment, an increase of 8.9% compared with the 2,780 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 December 2015 (297)[footnote 4] and the year ending December 2017 (341) - the latter of which included 71 fatalities as a result of the Grenfell Tower fire[footnote 5].

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.

The number of fire-related fatalities, 82, in the most recent quarter (October to December 2025) compares to 48, 73 and 80 in the previous 3 quarters of the year ending December 2025.

Fire-related fatalities in dwelling fires were the largest category, accounting for 71% of fire-related fatalities in the year ending December 2025. During this year, there were 201 fire-related fatalities in dwelling fires, virtually unchanged compared with 202 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 December 2017, the ratio of fire-related fatalities and fires that resulted in at least 1 fatality has been relatively stable over the same period. There were 283 fire-related fatalities in the year ending December 2025, from 266 fires that resulted in at least 1 fatality (0.4% of primary fires).

Figure 5.1: Total fire-related fatalities, primary fires that resulted in a fatality and the percentage of primary fires that resulted in a fatality England; year ending December 2015 to year ending December 2025

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 December 2025, FRSs attended 673 fires in purpose-built high-rise (10 or more storeys) flats or maisonettes, a decrease of 3.6% compared with the previous year (698), a decrease of 12% compared with 5 years ago (764) and a decrease of 14% compared with 10 years ago (779).

Over the 5-year period ending in December 2025, FRSs attended 3,589 fires in purpose-built high-rise (10 or more storeys) flats or maisonettes, which resulted in 10 fatal fires and 12 fire-related fatalities. This compared to 3,896 fires, resulting in 20 fatal fires and 90 fire-related fatalities in the 5-year period ending in December 2020 (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 December 2025, there were 6,838 non-fatal casualties, an increase of 7.3% compared with the previous year (6,372). The 4 sub-categories were as follows:

  • 603 hospital severe casualties, an increase of 4.5% compared with the previous year
  • 2,424 hospital slight casualties, an increase of 10% compared with the previous year
  • 1,578 first aid casualties, a decrease of 1.1% compared with the previous year
  • 2,233 precautionary check casualties, an increase of 12% compared with the previous year

Figure 5.2: Total non-fatal casualties in fires by injury severity, England; year ending December 2015 to year ending December 2025

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 2025 can be found in detailed analysis of fire incidents and response times.

Key results

In the year ending December 2025:

  • the average total response time to primary fires[footnote 6] in England was 9 minutes and 25 seconds, an increase of 21 seconds on the previous year; Source: FIRE1001
  • the average total response time to secondary fires[footnote 7] in England was 9 minutes and 57 seconds, an increase of 39 seconds on the previous year; Source: FIRE1001

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 1 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. There was an increase in the average response time to primary fires in the year ending December 2020, which may reflect operational pressures associated with the COVID-19 pandemic. In addition to this gradual upward trend, there were spikes in the year ending December 2018, December 2022 and December 2025, particularly in response times to secondary fires, probably due to the greater number of incidents and secondary fires in those years.

Figure 6.1: Average total response times (minutes) by type of fire, England; year ending December 2015 to year ending December 2025

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 25 seconds, in the year ending December 2025. This was:

  • an increase of 21 seconds compared with the previous year (9 minutes and 4 seconds)
  • an increase of 50 seconds compared with 5 years ago (8 minutes and 35 seconds)
  • an increase of 47 seconds compared with 10 years ago (8 minutes and 38 seconds)

Dwelling fires

The average response time to dwelling fires was 8 minutes and 13 seconds, in the year ending December 2025. This was:

  • an increase of 7 seconds compared with the previous year (8 minutes and 6 seconds)
  • an increase of 36 seconds compared with 5 years ago (7 minutes and 37 seconds)
  • an increase of 26 seconds compared with 10 years ago (7 minutes and 47 seconds)

Primary outdoor fires

The average response time to other outdoor fires was 12 minutes and 9 seconds, in the year ending December 2025. This was:

  • an increase of 1 minute 7 seconds compared with the previous year (11 minutes and 2 seconds)
  • an increase of 1 minute 4 seconds compared with 5 years ago (11 minutes and 5 seconds)
  • an increase of 1 minute 13 seconds compared with 10 years ago (10 minutes and 56 seconds)

It should be noted that other outdoor fires are numerically the smallest of the main primary fire types, accounting for 11% of primary fires in the year ending December 2025. 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 increased by 62% from the previous year.

Secondary fires

The average response time to secondary fires was 9 minutes and 57 seconds, in the year ending December 2025. This was:

  • an increase of 39 seconds compared with the previous year (9 minutes and 18 seconds)
  • an increase of 35 seconds compared with 5 years ago (9 minutes and 22 seconds)
  • an increase of 42 seconds compared with 10 years ago (9 minutes and 15 seconds)

The increase in the average response time to secondary fires might reflect the increase 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 December 2025 with 1, 5 and 10 years previously

Incident Type Year ending December 2025 Year ending December 2024 % change Year ending December 2020 Five year change Year ending December 2015 Ten year change
All incidents 642,264 601,335 6.8% 528,675 21% 513,040 25%
Fires 175,918 136,882 29% 153,333 15% 162,346 8.4%
Primary fires 66,832 61,163 9.3% 64,091 4.3% 72,744 -8.1%
Dwelling fires 26,298 25,150 4.6% 27,488 -4.3% 31,213 -16%
Accidental dwelling fires 23,897 22,683 5.4% 24,644 -3.0% 28,153 -15%
Other building fires 14,052 13,090 7.3% 12,813 9.7% 16,029 -12%
Road vehicle fires 19,445 18,571 4.7% 18,251 6.5% 20,319 -4.3%
Outdoor primary fires 7,037 4,352 62% 5,539 27% 5,183 36%
Secondary fires 107,283 73,676 46% 86,167 25% 84,944 26%
Fire false alarms 252,162 252,449 -0.1% 220,427 14% 211,032 19%
Non-fire incidents 214,184 212,004 1.0% 154,915 38% 139,662 53%
Fatal fires, fatalities and non-fatal casualties Year ending December 2025 Year ending December 2024 % change Year ending December 2020 Five year change Year ending December 2015 Ten year change
Fatal fires 266 235 13% 212 25% 267 -0.4%
Fire-related fatalities 283 257 10% 221 28% 297 -4.7%
Fire-related fatalities in dwellings 201 202 -0.5% 176 14% 217 -7.4%
Non-fatal casualties 6,838 6,372 7.3% 6,605 3.5% 7,714 -11%
Non-fatal casualties requiring hospital treatment 3,027 2,780 8.9% 2,729 11% 3,360 -9.9%
Non-fatal casualties in dwellings 4,880 4,643 5.1% 5,074 -3.8% 5,892 -17%

Table 7.3: Average response times, comparing the year ending December 2025 with 1, 5 and 10 years previously

Type of Fire Year ending December 2025 Year ending December 2024 % change Year ending December 2020 Five year change Year ending December 2015 Ten year change
Primary fires 9m 25s 9m 04s +21s 8m 35s +50s 8m 38s +47s
Dwellings 8m 13s 8m 06s +7s 7m 37s +36s 7m 47s +26s
Other buildings 9m 13s 9m 00s +13s 8m 32s +41s 8m 24s +49s
Other outdoors 12m 09s 11m 02s +1m 7s 11m 05s +1m 4s 10m 56s +1m 13s
Road vehicles 10m 19s 10m 10s +9s 9m 28s +51s 9m 45s +34s
Secondary fires 9m 57s 9m 18s +39s 9m 22s +35s 9m 15s +42s

Source: Fire statistics data tables

8. Further information

This release contains statistics about incidents attended by fire and rescue services (FRSs) in England. Fire data was collected by the Incident Recording System (IRS) until November 2025. Since November 2025, the statistics have been sourced by the Fire and Rescue Data Platform (FaRDaP). 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 MHCLG statistical releases are available via the Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government statistics release calendar pages on the GOV.UK website.

Data tables linked to this release and all other fire statistics releases can be found on MHCLG’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 carried out a compliance check in 2021 of the fire and rescue incident statistics against the Code of Practice, this was conducted when fire policy was under Ministerial responsibility of the Home Office. The results can be found in a letter to the Head of Profession published on the OSR website.

All fire-related Ministerial responsibilities moved from the Home Office to the Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government (MHCLG) on 1 April 2025. This change followed a recommendation from the Phase 2 report of the Grenfell Tower Inquiry, to bring all fire safety functions under one department. Therefore, as part of this move, all statistical publications and analysis on fire functions were also subject to the Machinery of Government (MoG) change.

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

Revisions

FaRDaP 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 December 2025. This includes incident records that were submitted to FaRDaP by 03 March 2026, when a snapshot of the database was taken for the purpose of analysis. As a snapshot of the data set was taken on 03 March 2026, 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.

Suffolk FRS could not submit all incidents before this date, due to technical reasons. Therefore, these statistics do not contain data for all incidents attended from September 2024 to September 2025 from Suffolk. The data will be revised in due course, as incidents are updated to the FaRDaP.

COVID-19 and the impact on the IRS

The figures presented in this release relate to incidents attended by FRSs during year ending December 2025. 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 were imposed which applied strict limits on daily life. 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 the year ending March 2021 edition of this release, detailed analysis of fires attended by fire and rescue services, England, April 2020 to March 2021, detailed analysis of non-fire incidents: England, April 2020 to March 2021 and detailed analysis of response times to fires: England, April 2020 to March 2021.

Other related publications

Fire Statistics publish 4 other statistical releases covering fire and rescue services.

These include:

The detailed analysis of 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 response times to fire incidents by fire and rescue services, England.

The Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government (MHCLG) 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:

Scottish fire statistics and Welsh fire statistics are published based on the FaRDaP Fire statistics for Northern Ireland are published by the Northern Ireland Fire and Rescue Service using data from a system similar to the FaRDaP, which means that it is not directly comparable to English, Welsh and Scottish data.

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. Collaboration 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. 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. Primary fires are those that meet at least 1 of the following criteria - occurred in a (non-derelict) building, vehicle or outdoor structure or involved a fatality, casualty or rescue or were attended by 5 or more pumping appliances. ↩

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

  8. OSR are the regulatory arm of the UK Statistics Authority. ↩

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