Accredited official statistics

Detailed analysis of fires attended and response times by fire and rescue services, England, April 2023 to March 2024

Published 19 September 2024

Applies to England

© Crown copyright 2024

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Frequency of release: Annual

Forthcoming releases: Home Office statistics release calendar

Home Office responsible statistician: Helene Clark

Press enquiries: 0300 123 3535

Public enquiries: firestatistics@homeoffice.gov.uk

This release presents more detailed analysis on fire incidents and response times to fires, which occurred in the year ending March 2024 (1 April 2023 to 31 March 2024) for fire and rescue services (FRSs) in England. For summary statistics and trends please refer to Fire and rescue incident statistics: England, year ending March 2024.

This is the first year that the detailed analysis of fires and response times to fires have been included in the same statistical release, so as to provide more timely statistics. In previous years, detailed analysis of fires and detailed analysis of response times were published as separate individual statistical releases.

The statistics on fire incidents, victims of fires and response times to fires are sourced from the Home Office’s online Incident Recording System (IRS). The statistics on smoke alarms are sourced from the English Housing Survey (EHS), see 11. Further Information for more information.

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 some time 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 low numbers. The year ending March 2018 had a particularly high number of fire-related fatalities due to the Grenfell Tower fire, though this year is not one of the comparator years in this release. On 4th 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.

The year ending March 2023 contained the hot dry summer of 2022, this is the 1-year comparator and influences many of the year-on-year decreases identified in this report.

Key results

In the year ending March 2024, there were:

  • 138,977 fires attended by FRSs in England, a decrease of 22% compared with the year ending March 2023 (178,867)
  • 251 fire-related fatalities, a decrease of 5.3% compared with the previous year (265), unchanged compared with 5 years ago, a decrease of 9.1% compared with 10 years ago
  • 10.9 fire-related fatalities per million of people aged 80 years and over, compared with 4.2 fire-related fatalities per million people of all ages
  • 5.6 fire-related fatalities per million for men of all ages compared to 2.5 fire-related fatalities per million for women of all ages

Figure KR.1: Fire-related fatality rate per million population

  • the average response time to primary fires was 9 minutes and 3 seconds: a decrease of 10 seconds compared with the previous year
  • the largest component was drive time (68%), which showed a decrease of 6 seconds to 6 minutes and 8 seconds

Figure KR.2: Response times to primary fires by component

1. Overview of fires attended

1.1 Key results

In the year ending March 2024:

  • fires accounted for 23% of the 600,324 incidents attended by FRSs the lowest percentage since the IRS began collecting data in 2011, compared with 29% in the previous year, 32% 5 years ago and 33% 10 years ago; Source: FIRE0102
  • there were 138,977 fires, a decrease of 22% compared with the previous year (178,867), a decrease of 24% compared with 5 years ago (182,961) and a decrease of 19% compared with 10 years ago (171,355)
  • the month with the most fires attended by FRSs per day was June 2023 (an average of 620.3), in comparison the month with the most fires in year ending March 2023 was August 2022 (an average of 909.8)
  • there were 79,300 outdoor fires, a decrease of 32% compared with the previous year (116,762), a decrease of 30% compared with 5 years ago (113,052) and a decrease of 18% compared with 10 years ago (97,270)

Fire incidents 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 are those considered to be the most serious or with a threat to life or property. See Fire statistics definitions guidance for detailed definitions of types of fires.

The total number of fires attended by FRSs decreased for around a decade - falling by around two-thirds from a peak of around 474,000 in the year to March 2004 to around 154,000 in the year ending March 2013. The total number of fires has fluctuated annually since year ending March 2013 between 150,000 and 185,000, with the peak in the year ending March 2019, due to the hot, dry summer of 2018.

Although the year to March 2021 had the lowest figure recorded, since comparable statistics became available in the year to March 1996, this was likely because of the impact of restrictions in response to the COVID-19 pandemic, (See figure 1.1).

Table 1: Number of fires, comparing the year ending March 2024 with one, 5 and 10 years previously

Incident Type Year ending March 2024 Year ending March 2023 1-year change Year ending March 2019 5-year change Year ending March 2014 10-year change
Fires 138,977 178,867 -22% 182,961 -24% 171,355 -19%
Primary fires 61,970 66,797 -7.2% 73,300 -15% 73,235 -15%
Dwellings fires 25,591 26,835 -4.6% 29,599 -14% 31,912 -20%
Accidental dwelling fires 23,008 24,093 -4.5% 26,562 -13% 28,615 -20%
Road vehicle fires 18,665 19,146 -2.5% 21,938 -15% 19,659 -5.1%
Other building fires 13,295 13,573 -2.0% 15,033 -12% 16,527 -20%
Outdoor primary fires 4,419 7,243 -39% 6,730 -34% 5,137 -14%
Secondary fires 74,881 109,519 -32% 106,322 -30% 92,133 -19%

Source: Home Office, FIRE0102, FIRE0202

Figure 1.1: Fires attended by type of fire, England; the year ending March 2014 to the year ending March 2024

Source: Home Office, FIRE0102

1.3 Seasonal fire analyses

Very little seasonality was evident in dwelling fires, but other buildings and road vehicle fires showed a small increase in the summer months. Primary outdoor, secondary and chimney fires showed much stronger seasonal effects. There tends to be more grassland, refuse and other outdoor fires in the summer months and these seem to reflect weather patterns (see FIRE0802). Conversely, chimney fires are more numerous in the winter months. These seasonal effects are broadly similar each year but are affected by changes in weather patterns specific to that year, for example in the year ending March 2024 the number of fires peaked in June, while in the previous year they were highest in August.

Figure 1.2 shows the average daily number of different types of fires in the year ending March 2024. It shows how stable the number of dwelling, other building and road vehicle fires are across months, compared with seasonal outdoor fires and, to a lesser extent, chimney fires.

Figure 1.2: Average daily fire incidents by month and location, England; the year ending March 2024

Source: Home Office, FIRE0802

The daily rate of all fires for the year ending March 2024[footnote 1] was 379.7 fires per day, of which 216.7 per day (57%) were outdoor fires. This was a decrease when compared with the previous year which had an average of 490.0 fires per day, of which 319.9 fires per day (65%) were outdoor fires. It should be noted that June 2023 was the hottest June on record and was drier than most other Junes (Source: Climate change impacts June temperature records, Met Office).

Figure 1.3 shows the number of outdoor fires attended across each month over the last 5 years. The large decreases in total fires in year ending March 2024, when compared to year ending March 2023 (which included the hot, dry summer of 2022), were heavily influenced by the reduction in the number of outdoor fires in the summer. The largest number of outdoor fires attended for a quarter in year ending March 2024 was in April to June 2023 (30,195); in comparison in year ending March 2023, July to September 2022 (52,319) was the highest quarterly figure for that year and since the IRS was introduced in April 2009. Through the timeseries, the quarter April to June usually has the highest number of outdoor fire incidents (Source: FIRE0802).

Figure 1.3: Outdoor fires attended by month, England; year ending March 2020 to year ending March 2024

Source: Home Office, FIRE0802

1.4 Temporal fire analyses

For each of the 7 individual hours between 15:00 and 22:00 (by time of call), the highest proportion of fires occurred, which was also consistent with all previous years. These 7 hours accounted for over 50% of fire incidents. The peak hours were between 18:00 and 21:00, with each hour accounting for more than 8% of fires in the year ending March 2024, similar to previous years. (Source: FIRE0801)

The number of fire-related fatalities by hour showed less of a pattern across the day, but did show peaks during the night. The highest rate was between 22:00 and 23:00 accounting for 8.4% of fire-related fatalities.

Figure 1.4: Percentage of fires and fire-related fatalities by hour of the day, England; the year ending March 2024

Source: Home Office, FIRE0801

2.1 Key results

In the year ending March 2024:

  • there were 251 fire-related fatalities, a decrease of 5.3% compared to year ending March 2023 (265); Source: FIRE0502
  • men had a greater likelihood of dying in a fire than women (5.6 per million population for males compared with 2.5 per million for females); Source: FIRE0503
  • there were 4,165 fire incidents involving an evacuation, a decrease of 4.2% compared to year ending March 2023 (4,346); Source: FIRE0511
  • there were 2,843 people rescued from fires, an increase of 2.3% compared to year ending March 2023 (2,779); Source: FIRE0511

The key results of fire-related fatalities, non-fatal casualties, rescues, and fire-related incidents involving an evacuation have been summarised in table 2.1 below.

Table 2.1 Number of fatal fires, fire-related fatalities, non-fatal casualties, rescues, and fire incidents involving an evacuation, comparing the year ending March 2024 with one, 5 and 10 years previously

Victim type Year ending March 2024 Year ending March 2023 1-year change Year ending March 2019 5-year change Year ending March 2014 10-year change
Non-fatal casualties 6,339 6,198 2.3% 7,165 -12% 7,819 -19%
Fire-related fatalities 251 265 -5.3% 251 0.0% 276 -9.1%
Fatal fires 232 250 -7.2% 226 2.7% 251 -7.6%
Incidents with an evacuation 4,165 4,346 -4.2% 5,650 -26% 7,096 -41%
Rescues 2,843 2,779 2.3% 2,988 -4.9% 3,308 -14%

In the year ending March 2024, there were:

  • 180 dwelling fire-related fatalities (72% of all fire-related fatalities), a decrease of 14% compared to the previous year (209); Source: FIRE0502
  • 36 dwelling fire-related fatalities in purpose-built flats or maisonettes (20% of all dwelling fire-related fatalities), a decrease of 14% compared to the previous year (42); Source: FIRE0205
  • 18 other building fire-related fatalities (7.2% of all fire-related fatalities), an increase of 20% compared to the previous year (15); Source: FIRE0502
  • 35 road vehicle fire-related fatalities (14% of all fire-related fatalities), an increase of 59% compared to the previous year (22); Source: FIRE0502
  • 18 other outdoor fire-related fatalities (7.2% of all fire-related fatalities), a decrease of 5.3% compared to the previous year (19); Source: FIRE0502

Figure 2.1: Number of fire-related fatalities in dwelling fires, England; the year ending March 2011 to the year ending March 2024

Source: Home Office, FIRE0502

In the year ending March 2024, there were 6,339 non-fatal casualties. When considered by type of fire, there were the following trends:

  • 4,676 non-fatal casualties in dwelling fires (74% of all casualties), an increase of 2.7% on the previous year (4,554)
  • 857 non-fatal casualties in other building fires (14% of all casualties), an increase of 5.7% on the previous year (811)
  • 520 non-fatal casualties in road vehicle fires (8.2% of all casualties), an increase of 13% on the previous year (462)
  • 286 non-fatal casualties in other outdoor fires (4.5% of all casualties), a decrease of 23% on the previous year (371)

Figure 2.2: Number of non-fatal casualties in dwellings, England; the year ending March 2011 to the year ending March 2024

Source: Home Office, FIRE0502

The likelihood of dying in a fire generally increases with age, as illustrated in figure 2.3. In the year ending March 2024, 37% of all fire-related fatalities in England were in people aged 65 years and over, this was a decrease of 10 percentage points compared to the previous year (47%).

When broken down by age groups, the fatality rate was:

  • 7.3 fatalities per million people for those aged 65 to 79 years old, while in the year ending March 2023 there were 9.4 fatalities per million people aged 65 to 79; Source: FIRE0503
  • 10.9 fatalities per million people for those aged 80 years old and over, see figure 2.3; Source: FIRE0503
  • for the 2 age bands 40 to 54 years and 55 to 64 years, there were 4.1 and 4.3 fatalities per million people; Source: FIRE0503
  • for the age band covering those aged under one year, there were 3.2 fatalities per million people; Source: FIRE0503
  • the lowest rates were seen for the 3 age bands one to 5 years, 6 to 10 years, 11 to 16 years, each between 0.5 and 0.6 per million; Source: FIRE0503

In the year ending March 2024, 39% of all fire-related non-fatal casualties in England were in people aged between 25 and 54 years old, this was a virtually unchanged proportion to the previous year (39%). However, the non-fatal casualty rate was highest in those aged 80 years and over (160.3 casualties per million people).

Men have a greater likelihood of dying and getting injured in a fire than women, with this trend continuing in the year ending March 2024, there were:

  • 164 male fire-related fatalities (5.6 per million) compared to 77 for females (2.5 per million); Source: FIRE0503
  • 3,762 male non-fatal casualties (127.4 per million) compared to 2,431 for females (79.1 per million); Source: FIRE0503

Figure 2.3: Fatality rate (fatalities per million people) for all ages and selected age bands, England; the year ending March 2014 to the year ending March 2024

Source: Home Office, FIRE0503a

2.4 Causes of deaths and injuries

The IRS records the cause of death or nature of injury for fire-related fatalities and non-fatal casualties in fires. In the year ending March 2024, where known, the most common cause of death for fire-related fatalities was ‘overcome by gas or smoke’ (74). ‘overcome by gas or smoke’ accounted for 29% of fire-related fatalities, and was the lowest number and proportion of fire-related fatalities since the introduction of the online IRS. (Source: FIRE0504)

The proportions for causes of death of fire-related fatalities are fairly stable across most years. In the year ending March 2024, the category of ‘unspecified’ increased to 21% of fire-related fatalities, which was the highest recorded, except for in the year ending March 2018 (26%). However, the year ending March 2018 includes the Grenfell Tower fire, and for the purposes of this report the causes of the fire-related fatalities in that fire were recorded as ‘unspecified’ at the time of the datacut. The public enquiry published its final report on 4th September 2024, and the cause of death may be amended subsequently. (Source: FIRE0504)

There were 4,116 non-fatal casualties in accidental dwelling fires in the year ending March 2024. Of the non-fatal casualties requiring hospital treatment from accidental dwelling fires[footnote 2] (1,735), in year ending March 2024:

  • 836 were caused by ‘overcome by gas or smoke’ (48%), the largest category of injury
  • 382 were caused by ‘burns’ (22%)
  • 230 were caused by ‘other breathing difficulties’ (13%)

All the other categories combined comprised the remaining 17% of injuries requiring hospital treatment in accidental dwelling fires. (Source: FIRE0506)

2.5 Rescues and evacuations

The number of people rescued from primary fires attended by FRSs has generally been on a downward trend since the online IRS was introduced, decreasing from 4,367 in the year ending March 2010 to 2,843 in the year ending March 2024, see figure 2.4. The longer-term decrease occurred for all rescue types, but in the past 4 years, the number of people rescued has stabilised.

Figure 2.4: Number of people rescued and incidents involving an evacuation from primary fires, England; the year ending March 2010 to the year ending March 2024

Source: Home Office, FIRE0511

The number of primary fires attended that involved an evacuation has also generally been on a downward trend, see figure 2.4, decreasing from 9,263 in the year ending March 2010 to 4,165 in the year ending March 2024. The longer-term decrease occurred for all evacuation types, but in the past 4 years, the number of incidents including an evacuation has stabilised at around 4,000.

3. Extent of damage and spread of fire

The extent of damage (due to smoke, and or heat, and or water) to dwellings and other buildings is recorded by the area in square metres (m2) broken down into 13 categories, from ‘None’ up to ‘Over 10,000’ square metres[footnote 3]. Dwelling fires with more than 5,000m2 of damage and other buildings fires with more than 1,000m2 of damage can skew the averages, so were removed from the averages reported here[footnote 4]. However, for completeness, other calculations are available in tables FIRE0204 and FIRE0305, which accompany this release.

The spread of fire in dwellings and other buildings is recorded according to the extent the fire reached different parts of the building, based on 8 categories from ‘no fire damage’ to ‘fire spread to the whole building’.

3.1 Key results

In the year ending March 2024:

  • the average area of damage to dwellings was 14.4m2, a decrease of 5.9% compared with the previous year (15.3m2)
  • the average area of damage to other buildings was 24.5m2, a decrease of 6.8% compared with the previous year (26.3m2)
  • 30% of dwelling fires had no fire damage and 14% were larger fires[footnote 5]
  • 24% of other building fires had no fire damage and 26% were larger fires

3.2 Extent of damage

The average extent of damage to dwellings has generally decreased, since the year ending March 2004. In the latest year, the average area of damage to dwellings in England has shown a decrease of 5.9% with the previous year. (Source: FIRE0204)

The average extent of damage to other buildings (excluding those over 1,000m2) has fluctuated since the year ending March 2010 (from when the average extent of damage to other buildings started being more accurately recorded)[footnote 6], although the averages calculated in 2 of the 3 most recent years (years ending March 2022 and 2024) were the lowest over the period, at 24.2m2 and 24.5m2. (Source: FIRE0305)

3.3 Spread of fire

In the year ending March 2024, nearly one-third (30%) of dwelling fires had no fire damage, in a third (33%) the damage was limited to the item first ignited and in roughly a quarter (24%) the damage was limited to the room of origin. The remaining 14% of dwelling fires were larger fires. (Source: FIRE0203)

In the year ending March 2024, 24% of other building fires had no fire damage, for 30% the damage was limited to the item first ignited and for 20% the damage was limited to the room of origin. The remaining 26% of other building fires were larger fires. (Source: FIRE0304)

The IRS collects information on the source of ignition, the cause of fire, which item or material was mainly responsible for the spread of the fire, and ignition power [footnote 7].

4.1 Key results

In the year ending March 2024:

  • of the 23,010 accidental dwelling fires[footnote 8] , 29% were caused by ‘misuse of equipment or appliances’, unchanged compared to 29% in the year ending March 2023; Source: FIRE0601
  • cooking appliances were the largest ignition category for accidental dwelling fires, accounting for 44% of these fires, but only 5.7% of the fire-related fatalities; Source: FIRE0602
  • smoking materials were the source of ignition in 6.6% of accidental dwelling fires, but accounted for the largest proportion of fire-related fatalities in accidental dwelling fires at 25%

4.2 Sources of ignition in accidental dwelling fires

Since the year ending March 2011 (when the data was first recorded), the number of accidental dwelling fires has decreased by 27%. While the number of accidental dwelling fires with a source of ignition of ‘cooking appliances’ have reduced by 35% since year ending March 2011, it still accounts for 44% of all accidental dwelling fires. The decrease in accidental dwelling fires has also been driven by reductions in the number of fires with an ignition source of ‘space heating appliance’ (-45%), ‘other electrical appliance’ (-35%), and ‘smokers material’ (-33%). (Source: FIRE0602)

Figure 4.1 shows the proportion of accidental dwelling fires, and their resulting non-fatal casualties and fire-related fatalities, attributable to different sources of ignition[footnote 9]. While cooking appliances account for the largest proportion of ignition source for accidental dwelling fires and non-fatal casualties, ‘smokers materials’ accounts for the largest source of ignition for fire-related fatalities. (Source: FIRE0601, Dwelling fires dataset)

Figure 4.1: Percentage of fires, non-fatal casualties, and fire-related fatalities in accidental dwelling fires by selected sources of ignition, England; year ending March 2024

Source: Home Office, FIRE0602

The source of ignition that accounted for the largest proportion of other building fires (excluding other and unspecified) was ‘electrical distribution’ (16%), while the largest specified ignition source for fire-related fatalities was ‘cigarette lighters’ (17%).

4.3 Main cause of, and material mainly responsible for, dwelling fires

Exactly how a fire originated, and the material that was mainly responsible for it spreading, are both important determinants in the outcomes of fires. Similarly to sources of ignition, the most common causes and materials responsible for the spread of fires are not those that lead to the greatest proportion of fire-related fatalities.

Of the 25,591 dwelling fires in the year ending March 2024:

  • 29% were caused by ‘misuse of equipment or appliance’, see figure 4.2, virtually unchanged when compared to 29% in the previous year; Source: Dwelling fires dataset
  • ‘Textiles, upholstery and furnishings’ was the material mainly responsible for the spread of primary dwelling fires in 22% of cases, but 51% of associated fire-related fatalities; it was the item first ignited in 27% of primary dwelling fires; Source: FIRE0603

‘Food’ was the material mainly responsible for the spread of the fire in 15% of all dwelling fires and the item first ignited in 23% of all dwelling fires in the year ending March 2024. However, it was the material mainly responsible for the spread of the fire in only 2.2% of all fire-related fatalities in dwelling fires.

Figure 4.2: Percentage of accidental dwelling fires by cause of fire, England; year ending March 2024

Source: Home Office, FIRE0601

5. Smoke alarm function

Reasons alarms did not function as expected

Did not operate

  • alarm battery missing
  • alarm battery defective
  • system not set up correctly
  • system damaged by fire
  • fire not close enough to detector
  • fault in system; system turned off
  • fire in area not covered by system
  • detector removed
  • alerted by other means
  • other
  • not known

Operated but did not raise the alarm

  • no person in earshot
  • occupants did not respond
  • no other person responded
  • other
  • not known

5.1 Key results

In the year ending March 2024:

  • fires where a smoke alarm was not present accounted for 24% (6,084) of all dwelling fires and 34% (61) of all dwelling fire-related fatalities Source: FIRE0702
  • dwelling fires where a smoke alarm failed to operate accounted for 18%, which was virtually unchanged (-0.3%) on the previous year Source: FIRE0702
  • other building fires where a smoke alarm failed to operate accounted for 9.8%, which was virtually unchanged from the 10% the previous year Source: FIRE0706

5.2 Smoke alarms in dwelling fires

Fires where a smoke alarm was present but either did not operate or did not raise the alarm accounted for 29% of all dwelling fires in the year ending March 2024, similar to previous years.

In the year ending March 2024, ‘fire products did not reach detector(s)’[footnote 10] and ‘fire in area not covered by system’ accounted for 63% of all failure to operate reasons for smoke alarms in dwelling fires. Table 5.1 provides a summary of the reasons smoke alarms did not operate in dwelling fires in year ending March 2024.

As for all years since the year ending March 2011, the most common category of smoke alarm failure in dwelling fires involving any victims[footnote 11] was ‘other’ (including ‘alerted by other means’, ‘system damaged by fire’, ‘other’ and ‘don’t know’); Source: FIRE0704

Table 5.1: Reason smoke alarms did not operate in dwelling fires and dwelling fires resulting in casualties, England, year ending March 2024

Reason alarm failed to be raised Fires Casualties
Missing battery 3.2% 11%
Defective battery 4.0% 6.3%
Other act preventing alarm from operating 4.1% 15%
Fire products did not reach detector(s) 47% 13%
Fire in area not covered by system 16% 7.5%
Faulty system / incorrectly installed 2.9% 11%
Other 23% 36%

Source: Home Office, FIRE0704

Notes:

  1. Includes all non-fatal casualties and fire-related fatalities.
  2. Other includes ‘alerted by other means’, ‘system damaged by fire’, ‘other’ and ‘don’t know’.

5.3 Smoke alarm function and outcomes

Figure 5.1 shows the proportion of dwelling fires and associated fire-related fatalities where the alarm was ‘present, operated and raised the alarm’, ‘present but did not raise the alarm’, ‘present but did not operate’ or ‘absent’. It shows that a smoke alarm was present and raised the alarm (functioned as intended) in 47% of dwelling fires, 31% of fire-related fatalities and 52% of non-fatal casualties in the year ending March 2024. (Source: FIRE0702)

In the year ending March 2023, according to the English Housing Survey 93% of households had a working smoke alarm. Based on IRS and English Housing Survey data, you are around 12 times more likely to die in a fire if you do not have a working smoke alarm in your home[footnote 12] compared to the previous year in which you were around 10 times more likely to die. The increase in the likelihood of dying can be attributed to the decrease in the number of fatal fires in households with a working smoke alarm in the latest year (88, compared to 110 in the year ending March 2023). (Source: FIRE0701, FIRE0702)

Alarms were absent in a higher proportion of fire-related fatalities (34%) than for non-fatal casualties (21%) and in dwelling fires (24%) in the year ending March 2024. This pattern is consistent with previous years.

Figure 5.1: Smoke alarm operation outcomes for dwelling fires, fire-related fatalities and non-fatal casualties England; in the year ending March 2024

Source: Home Office, FIRE0702

5.4 Smoke alarms in other building fires

In the year ending March 2024, in other building fires:

  • where a smoke alarm was not present, accounted for 43% - the lowest in the timeseries compared to 49% in the previous year; Source: FIRE0706
  • where a smoke alarm was present but did not raise the alarm, accounted for 5.3%, compared to 5.2% in the previous year; Source: FIRE0706
  • where a smoke alarm was present but did not operate, accounted for 9.8%, virtually unchanged compared to 10% in the previous year; Source: FIRE0706

6. Summary of total response time trends to fire incidents

Total response time is the minutes and seconds elapsed from the time of call to the arrival of the first vehicle to the incident. Time of call is based on the time that the call is received by Command and Control (the Fire Control room).

The following incidents are not included in response time totals:

  • road vehicle fires, where the road vehicle was abandoned
  • derelict property fires
  • where an FRS learned of the fire when it was known to have been extinguished (known as ‘late calls’)
  • 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)
  • 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)

Due to these exclusions, the number of incidents that the response times analysis is based on is lower than the reported number of incidents in FIRE0102. The number of incidents that the response time calculation is based on is provided in FIRE1001, analysis of the exclusions is provided in 11.2 further information.

6.1 Key results

In the year ending March 2024:

  • the average total response time to primary fires in England was 9 minutes and 3 seconds; Source: FIRE1001
  • there was a decrease of 10 seconds in the average first appliance response time to primary fires since the previous year, as the year ending March 2023 had the longest average response time seen since comparable statistics became available; Source: FIRE1001
  • the average total response time to secondary fires in England saw a decrease of 24 seconds, compared with the previous year, to 9 minutes and 23 seconds; Source: FIRE1001

6.2 Response times to fires incidents

Looking at the long-term trend, response times to fires have increased gradually between the year ending March 1995 (when these data were first collected) and the year ending March 2015. Response times for primary fires levelled off between year ending March 2015 and year ending March 2020, with the exception of year ending March 2019 (which had more incidents in general due to the hot, dry summer). In the year ending March 2021, the average response time decreased, due to reductions in drive time, likely as a result of reduced traffic volumes due to government restrictions and guidance in response to the COVID-19 pandemic.

Between year ending March 2022 to 2023, response times to primary and dwelling fires increased year-on-year. In comparison, response times to secondary fires fell slightly in the year ending March 2022, before increasing in the year ending March 2023, due to the hot dry summer of 2022. For year ending March 2024, other building and road vehicles increased. Only primary outdoor and secondary response times decreased when compared to previous year.

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

Source: Home Office, FIRE1001

Notes:

  1. y axis is from 7 to 10 minutes

Table 6.1: Average response times, comparing the year ending March 2024 with one, 5 and 10 years previously

Type of Fire Year ending March 2024 Year ending March 2023 1-year change Year ending March 2019 5-year change Year ending March 2014 10-year change
Primary fires 9m 03s 9m 13s -10s 8m 49s +14s 8m 16s +47s
Dwellings 8m 01s 8m 01s 0s 7m 47s +14s 7m 29s +32s
Other buildings 9m 03s 8m 56s +7s 8m 35s +28s 8m 04s +59s
Other outdoors 11m 20s 12m 29s -1m 9s 11m 34s -14s 10m 18s +1m 2s
Road vehicles 10m 08s 10m 00s +8s 9m 43s +25s 9m 20s +48s
Secondary fires 9m 23s 9m 47s -24s 9m 42s -19s 8m 43s +40s

Source: Home Office, FIRE1001

7. Response times components

The total response time (from time of call to time of first arrival) can be divided into call handling time, crew turnout time and drive time. These data are drawn from the online IRS and so are only available from year ending March 2011 onwards (see FIRE1001).

The components of response times are defined as:

  • call handling time is the duration between the time of call (when Command and Control in the Fire Control room received the call) and the point at which the station is alerted
  • crew turnout time is the duration between the time at which the station is alerted and the time the first vehicle departs (the time it takes for the firefighters to prepare to leave)
  • drive time is the duration between the time the first vehicle leaves to the time at which the first vehicle arrives at the scene of the incident (not necessarily the same vehicle)

7.1 Key results

In year ending March 2024:

  • the average call handling time for primary fires showed a decrease of 1 second compared with the previous year to 1 minute and 25 seconds FIRE1001
  • the average crew turnout time for primary fires showed a decrease of 2 seconds compared with the previous year to 1 minute and 31 seconds
  • the average drive time for primary fires showed a decrease of 6 seconds compared with the previous year to 6 minutes and 8 seconds
  • of the average total response time, call handling accounted for 16%, crew turnout accounted for 17% and drive time accounted for 68%

7.2 Call handling

The average call handling time for primary fires remained broadly stable at around 1 minute 12 seconds between year ending March 2011 and year ending March 2013. There was then a period of successive increases, which peaked at 1 minute 27 seconds in year ending March 2016, followed by decreases in each year until year ending March 2021. Subsequently, the call handling time increased in each of the next 2 years to the year ending March 2023, before decreasing by 1 second in year ending March 2024, see Figure 7.1.

The average call handling time for secondary fires has stayed broadly stable since year ending March 2015.

7.3 Crew turnout

Crew turnout time has been slowly decreasing for the past decade and therefore has broadly kept the combination of call handling time and crew turnout time stable over the past decade. The average crew turnout time for primary fires has been on a downward trend since data became available, from one minutes and 53 seconds in year ending March 2011 to its all-time lowest time of 1 minute and 31 seconds in year ending March 2024, see Figure 7.1.

The average crew turnout time for secondary fires has followed a similar trend to primary fires over the same period.

7.4 Drive time

Drive time has shown the largest increase of any of the response time components, so therefore has contributed the greatest amount to increasing response times. Drive time accounts for 68% of the total average response in year ending March 2024, which is a 3.9 percentage points increase from 64% of 10 years ago.

The average drive time to primary fires steadily increased from 5 minutes and 1 second in year ending March 2011, the first year in which data became available, to a peak of 6 minutes and 14 seconds in the year ending March 2023. The peak in these times was probably related to the spike in incidents due to the hot, dry summer of 2022, see Figure 7.1. The drive time showed a decrease of 6 seconds in the year ending March 2024 to 6 minutes and 8 seconds.

Figure 7.1: Average response time (minutes) to primary fires by response time component (stacked), England; year ending March 2014 to year ending March 2024

Source: Home Office, FIRE1001

7.5 Call components by type of fire

It should be noted that it is difficult to isolate the impact of any individual factor on response times. Many factors at a local and national level contribute to the different call components, with some of these factors discussed below. Response times reflect the geography of the FRS, including the urban-rural nature of the FRS, new developments, and the strategic position of fire stations and appliances.

Response times to dwelling fires are the quickest for all types of fires, for all 3 of the response time components, with this trend occurring each year since data became available in year ending March 2011. This likely reflects the relative ease with which a street address can be communicated on the telephone and the urgency with which an FRS responds to fires with the greatest potential risk to life.

In contrast, primary outdoor fires, typically have the slowest times for each of the 3 call components, which could reflect the difficulty of describing an outdoor location without a street address (call handling) and the difficulty of finding it once mobile (drive time). Similarly, secondary fires have response times that are slower than primary fires, likely as most of these locations are outdoor, more rural and have a lower risk to life or property.

Table 7.1: Response times to primary fires by component, England; year ending March 2024 compared with one, 5 and 10 years previously

Component of Response Time Year ending March 2024 Year ending March 2023 1-year change Year ending March 2019 5-year change Year ending March 2014 10-year change
Total Response Time 9m 03s 9m 13s -10s 8m 49s +14s 8m 16s +47s
Call Handing Time 1m 25s 1m 26s -1s 1m 23s +2s 1m 14s +11s
Crew Turnout Time 1m 31s 1m 33s -2s 1m 38s -7s 1m 45s -14s
Drive Time 6m 08s 6m 14s -6s 5m 49s +19s 5m 16s +52s

Source: Home Office, FIRE1001

Table 7.2: Percentage of total response time to primary fires by component, England; year ending March 2024 compared with one, 5 and 10 years previously

Component of Response Time Year ending March 2024 Year ending March 2023 1-year change Year ending March 2019 5-year change Year ending March 2014 10-year change
Call Handing Time 16% 16% 0.1pp 16% -0.1pp 15% 0.6pp
Crew Turnout Time 17% 17% -0.1pp 18% -1.7pp 21% -4.5pp
Drive Time 68% 68% 0.0pp 66% 1.8pp 64% 3.9pp

Source: Home Office, FIRE1001

Notes:

  1. pp stands for percentage points

8. Total response times by type of Fire and Rescue Authority (FRA)

8.1 Response times by FRA

Of the 44 fire and rescue authorities (FRAs), 30 showed a decrease in average total response time to primary fires between year ending March 2023 and year ending March 2024. Source: FIRE1001.

For primary outdoor fires, 37 FRAs showed a decrease in average total response time.

Figure 8.1: Average response times to primary fires by FRA, England; and average change in response time for year ending March 2024 to 2023

Source: Home Office, FIRE1001

8.2 Response times by type of FRA

FRAs can be split into 3 rural-urban classifications (predominantly rural, significantly rural and predominantly urban)[footnote 13]

Average response times to primary fires are faster in predominantly urban areas and quicker still in the subset of predominantly urban FRAs which are metropolitan[footnote 14]. The difference in average response times between predominantly urban and predominantly rural FRAs has been around 2 to 4 minutes every year, since records started in year ending March 2011.

All types of FRAs exhibited gradual increases in average response time between year ending March 2011 and year ending March 2015, before roughly stabilising until year ending March 2019. Subsequently, there were 2 year-on-year decreases (for years ending March 2020 and 2021), likely due to reduced traffic levels due to government guidelines on travel and social restrictions, in response to the COVID-19 pandemic. Following the lockdowns, response times increased in year ending March 2022, partly as traffic volumes returned to normal post-COVID-19, and peaked in year ending March 2023, likely due to the increase in the number of incidents due to the hot, dry summer of 2022. In the year ending March 2024, average response times to primary fires decreased, and most notably in rural FRAs. See figure 8.2 for further detail.

As can be seen in table 8.1, for more rural FRAs, the average response time to primary fires is higher (see figure 8.1). For the specific call components, the trend for call handling varies for rural FRAs; however, the crew turnout time and drive time both increase for more rural FRAs compared to urban FRAs, likely reflecting the crew type (generally more on-call firefighters in rural FRAs) and the distance to incidents, see table 8.2 for further detail.

Crew turnout times for predominantly rural FRAs are typically 1 minute to 1.5 minutes longer than predominantly urban FRAs in each year, likely due to the higher proportion of on-call firefighters[footnote 15], who first need to get to a station once alerted. Predominantly rural FRAs showed the greatest decrease in crew turnout time since year ending March 2014.

Figure 8.2: Average total response times (minutes) to primary fires by type of FRA, England; year ending March 2014 to year ending March 2024

Source: Home Office, FIRE1001

Notes:

  1. y axis is from 6 to 12 minutes

Table 8.1: Response times to primary fires by type of FRA, England; year ending March 2024 compared with one, 5 and 10 years previously

Location Category Year ending March 2024 Year ending March 2023 1-year change Year ending March 2019 5-year change Year ending March 2014 10-year change
England 9m 03s 9m 13s -10s 8m 49s +14s 8m 16s +47s
Predominantly Urban 7m 44s 7m 48s -4s 7m 36s +8s 7m 13s +31s
Significantly Rural 10m 16s 10m 29s -13s 9m 55s +21s 9m 03s +1m 13s
Predominantly Rural 10m 51s 11m 05s -14s 10m 35s +16s 10m 08s +43s

Source: Home Office, FIRE1001

Table 8.2: Component of response times to primary fires by type of FRA, England; year ending March 2024

Location Category Call Handling Time Crew Turnout Time Drive Time Total response time
England 1m 25s 1m 31s 6m 08s 9m 03s
Predominantly Urban 1m 26s 1m 03s 5m 15s 7m 44s
Significantly Rural 1m 30s 1m 50s 6m 56s 10m 16s
Predominantly Rural 1m 10s 2m 22s 7m 18s 10m 51s

Source: Home Office, FIRE1001

9. Distribution of total response times

Chapters 6 to 8 present (mean) average response times; however, many FRSs measure their performance based on the proportion of incidents attended within various target times. Fire statistics table FIRE1004 provides incident counts by one-minute bands (until 20 minutes where it is grouped by 20 to 60 minutes and more than 60 minutes) for primary and secondary fires.

Key results

In year ending March 2024:

  • the most common response time band for all fire types, except for primary other outdoors fires was 6 to 7 minutes
  • 70% of all primary fires were responded to within 10 minutes, increasing by 0.9 compared with the previous year
  • 80% of dwelling fires were responded to within 10 minutes, were virtually unchanged compared with the previous year
  • 69% of other building fires were responded to within 10 minutes, decreasing by 1.2 percentage points compared with the previous year
  • 51% of primary outdoor fires were responded to within 10 minutes, increasing by 7.1 percentage points compared with the previous year
  • 68% of secondary fires were responded to within 10 minutes, increasing by 3.1 percentage points compared with the previous year

A greater proportion of dwelling fires were responded to within 10 minutes (80%), relative to the other fire types. This is likely due to the comparative ease of describing street addresses via telephone and the urgency with which FRSs respond to fires with increased risk to life or property. A smaller proportion of secondary fires and outdoor primary fires were responded to within 10 minutes, 68% and 51% respectively, likely due to these incidents typically being less urgent or occurring in more rural locations.

Figure 9.1: Proportion of primary fires in dwellings and other buildings attended by FRSs in 1-minute total response time bands, England; year ending March 2024

Source: Home Office, FIRE1004

Figure 9.2: Proportion of primary outdoor fires and secondary fires attended by FRSs in 1-minute total response time bands, England; year ending March 2024

Source: Home Office, FIRE1004

Table 9.1: Proportion of fire incidents responded to within 10 minutes by type of fire incident, England; year ending March 2024 compared with one, 5 and 10 years previously

Type of Fire Year ending March 2024 Year ending March 2023 1-year change Year ending March 2019 5-year change Year ending March 2014 10-year change
Primary fires 70% 69% 0.9pp 72% -2.0pp 77% -6.8pp
Dwellings 80% 80% -0.3pp 82% -2.3pp 85% -5.1pp
Other buildings 69% 71% -1.2pp 73% -3.9pp 78% -8.6pp
Other outdoors 51% 44% 7.1pp 48% 2.2pp 58% -7.4pp
Road vehicles 60% 61% -0.8pp 63% -3.3pp 66% -6.2pp
Secondary fires 68% 65% 3.1pp 65% 2.8pp 74% -6.1pp

Source: Home Office, FIRE1004

Notes:

  1. pp stands for percentage points

10. Response times and outcomes

There is no straightforward relationship between response times and the outcome of a fire. Many factors outside the control of FRSs will affect the outcome of fires, including the type of fire and the time elapsed before the fire was discovered. This section looks at response times in relation to victims (fatalities and non-fatal casualties) and rescues.

Key results

In year ending March 2024:

  • the average total response time to dwelling fires involving victims and/or rescues in England was 7 minutes and 55 seconds, an increase of 1 second compared with year ending March 2023 (Source: FIRE1002)
  • the average total response time to dwelling fires without victims and/or rescues in England was 8 minutes and 2 seconds, an increase of 1 second compared with year ending March 2023 (Source: FIRE1002)

Dwelling fires with victims and/or rescues have had consistently faster average response times than dwelling fires with no victims and/or rescues (see figure 10.1). These comprise a relatively small number of incidents (9.5% of all dwelling fires since year ending March 2010 involved victims and/or rescues), so are potentially more susceptible to fluctuations in average response times. The pattern is consistent across all years in the series (between 9% and 10% in each year). This suggests that while dwelling fires are responded to the most quickly of all primary fire types , see figure 6.1), response times are faster for incidents that appear to involve a risk to life, if it has been possible to collect this information from the caller.

In year ending March 2024, call handling time was the same on average, the crew turnout time was also 3 seconds faster, and drive time was 5 second faster for dwelling fires with victims and/or rescues compared with those without.

11. Further information

This release contains statistics about incidents and response times to fire incidents attended by fire and rescue services (FRSs) in England. The statistics are sourced from the Home Office’s online Incident Recording System (IRS). This system allows FRSs to complete an incident form for every incident attended, be it a fire, a false alarm or a non-fire incident (also known as a Special Service incident). The online IRS was introduced in April 2009. Previously, paper forms were submitted by FRSs and an element of sampling was involved in the data compilation process.

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

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

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

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

If you have any comments, suggestions, or enquiries, please contact the team via email using firestatistics@homeoffice.gov.uk or via the user feedback form on the fire statistics collection page.

11.1 Revisions

The IRS is a continually updated database, with FRSs adding incidents daily. The figures in this release refer to records of incidents that occurred up to and including 31 March 2024. This includes incident records that were submitted to the IRS by 15 May 2024, when a snapshot of the database was taken for the purpose of analysis. As a snapshot of the database was taken on 15 May 2024, the statistics published may not match those held locally by FRSs and revisions may occur in the future.

11.2 Incidents Included in response times analysis

Where the response times sections of this report (6 to 10) reference incident numbers, it refers to fire incidents included in FIRE1001, not total incidents from FIRE0102. FIRE1001 has incidents excluded that took more than an hour or less than 1 minute or had the date-time stamps incorrectly recorded. For more information on the method used to calculate response times and the underlying assumptions, please see the guidance available here: Fire statistics definitions. FIRE1001 does not include chimney fires, so for the remaining fires included in FIRE1001 accounted for 92% of all fire incidents in year ending March 2024. For the specific fire types included in FIRE1001, the proportion of incidents included in the response time calculation was as follows:

  • 97% of dwelling fires
  • 97% of other buildings fires
  • 98% of outdoor primary fires
  • 79% of road vehicle fires
  • 92% of secondary fires

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

These include:

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, which 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.

11.4 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 16], 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.

  1. The daily rate for year ending March 2024 uses 366 days to account for it including February 2024, which had 29 days as 2024 is a leap year ↩

  2. Casualties requiring hospital treatment covers all injury categories listed in FIRE0506 with the exception of ‘first aid given’ or ‘precautionary checks’ ↩

  3. For a list of the damaged area size bands, see the fire statistics definitions document. ↩

  4. Excluding these area categories removed 4 dwelling fires (approximately 0.01% of all dwelling fires) and 146 other buildings fires (approximately 1.1% of all other building fires) for the year ending March 2024 ↩

  5. Larger fires are comprised of the following IRS categories: ‘limited to floor of origin’, ‘limited to 2 floors’, ‘affecting more than 2 floors’, ‘limited to roofs and spaces’ or the ‘whole building’. ↩

  6. Some incidents in the IRS have been recorded as ‘deliberate’ in one question but ‘accidental’ in another question. We believe this is because the information has circumvented quality assurance checks. This means that the figures for deliberate fires in our published tables do not match always match. The Home Office will be working with FRSs to improve the quality of this data. ↩

  7. For a more detailed definition on the different types of cause of fire, see the definitions document and IRS Guidance. ↩

  8. As defined by cause of fire. Source: FIRE0601 ↩

  9. This excludes ‘Other and Unspecified’. ↩

  10. Fire products did not reach detectors(s) can be where the smoke alarms present were poorly sited (for example not on the floor of origin) so the smoke did not reach the detector. ↩

  11. This includes non-fatal casualties and fire-related fatalities ↩

  12. For details of the calculation and assumptions made, see the Fire statistics definitions document. ↩

  13. As defined by the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs’ 2011 Rural-Urban Classification of Local Authorities and other geographies. There are 14 FRAs classified as predominantly urban, 17 FRAs classified as significantly rural and 13 FRAs classified as predominantly rural. ↩

  14. Metropolitan FRAs are a subset of those in the predominantly urban category, while non-metropolitan comprises those in predominantly rural, significantly rural and the remainder of predominantly urban FRAs. There are 7 FRAs classified as metropolitan and 37 FRAs classified as non-metropolitan FRAs. ↩

  15. also known as ‘retained duty firefighters’ ↩

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

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