Accredited official statistics

Fire and rescue incident statistics: England, year ending December 2021

Published 12 May 2022

Applies to England

Frequency of release: Quarterly

Forthcoming releases: Home Office statistics release calendar

Home Office responsible statistician: Helene Clark

Press enquiries: pressoffice@homeoffice.gov.uk

Telephone: 0300 123 3535

Public enquiries: firestatistics@homeoffice.gov.uk

This release contains statistics about incidents attended by fire and rescue services (FRSs) in England for the year ending December 2021. The statistics are sourced from the Home Office’s online Incident Recording System (IRS) and include statistics on all incidents, fire-related fatalities, casualties from fires and response times to fires, with long term comparisons.

Key results

FRSs attended 555,358 incidents in the year ending December 2021, a five per cent increase compared with the previous year (528,616). Of these incidents, there were 147,295 fires which was a four per cent decrease compared with the previous year (153,308).

There were 280 fire-related fatalities in the year ending December 2021 compared with 220 in the previous year.

1. Incident summary

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

Key results

In the year ending December 2021:

• 555,358 incidents were attended by FRSs, this was a five per cent increase compared with the previous year (528,616), a one per cent decrease compared with five years ago (561,773) and an eight per cent decrease compared with ten years ago (605,059) Source: FIRE0102

• of all incidents attended by FRSs, fires accounted for 27 per cent, fire false alarms 40 per cent and non-fire incidents 33 per cent, compared with fires accounting for 37 per cent, fire false alarms 41 per cent and non-fire incidents 22 per cent ten years ago Source: FIRE0102

Total incidents

The number of all incidents attended by FRSs in England peaked in the year to March 2004, at over one million incidents. For around a decade, there was a general decline in all three categories of incidents attended and by the year ending March 2015 there were fewer than half a million incidents. The number of incidents then rose to around 577,000 in the year to March 2019 but has fluctuated since. It was 555,358 in the year ending December 2021.

In contrast to the earlier decreases (caused by a reduction in fire and fire false alarm incidents), the increase in total incidents over the four years to March 2019 was driven by increases in fire and non-fire incidents. Furthermore, the increase in non-fire incidents over this time was mainly due to changes in the number of flooding incidents and collaboration incidents attended, which are discussed in Section 4.

For the year ending December 2021, there was a five per cent increase compared to the previous year, with a decrease in the number of fires, and increases in the number of non-fire incidents and fire false alarms. Figure 1.1 shows that of the 555,358 total incidents, fire false alarms made up the majority of incidents with 40 per cent, with non-fire incidents (33 per cent) and fires (27 percent) making up the remainder of incidents. The percentage of incidents that were non-fire incidents is higher than in recent years and in contrast the percentage that were fires was lower than in recent years.

Figure 1.1: Total incidents attended by incident type, England; year ending December 2021

Source: FIRE0102

Notes:

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

2. Fires attended

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 that meet at least one 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 five or more pumping appliances.

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

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

Key results

In the year ending December 2021:

• FRSs attended 147,295 fires, a four per cent decrease compared with the previous year (153,308) and a 34 per cent decrease compared with ten years ago (223,430 in the year ending December 2011) Source: FIRE0102

• there were 62,301 primary fires, a three per cent decrease compared with the previous year (64,072) Source: FIRE0102

• FRSs attended 767 fires in purpose-built high-rise (10+ storeys) flats or maisonettes, a two per cent increase compared with the previous year (755) and accounted for three per cent of the 27,015 primary dwelling fires attended Source: FIRE0205

Total fires

The long-term picture shows that 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 financial year to March 2004 to around 154,000 in the year ending March 2013. The total has subsquently varied between around 150,000 and 185,000 - with the highest annual figure in the year to March 2019, caused by the hot, dry summer of 2018.

More recently the number of fires in the year ending December 2021 decreased by nine per cent compared with five years ago (162,519) and decreased by 34 per cent compared with ten years ago (223,430). The total number of fires decreased by four per cent from 153,308 in the year ending December 2020 to 147,295 in the year ending December 2021 (Figure 2.1).

Primary fires fell by three per cent (from 64,072 to 62,301), with decreases in all types of primary fire (dwelling, other building, road vehicle and other outdoors). Secondary fires also decreased, by five per cent (from 86,162 to 81,982).

Figure 2.1: Total fires attended by type of fire, England; year ending December 2011 to year ending December 2021

Source: FIRE0102

Primary fires

In the year ending December 2021 there were 62,301 primary fires (42% of the 147,295 fires attended). This was a three per cent decrease compared with the previous year (64,072), an 18 per cent decrease compared with five years ago (75,521) and a 29 per cent decrease compared with ten years ago (87,729). Compared with the year ending December 2020, there were decreases of two per cent in dwelling fires, four per cent in other buildings fires, one per cent in road vehicle fires and 13 per cent in other outdoor fires.

Of the 27,015 primary dwelling fires attended by FRSs, 73 per cent were in houses, bungalows, converted flats and other properties, whilst 27 per cent were in purpose-built flats or maisonettes.

FRSs attended 767 fires in purpose-built high-rise (10+ storeys) flats or maisonettes, a two per cent increase compared with the previous year (755) and accounted for three per cent of the 27,015 primary dwelling fires attended.

When looking at fires in purpose-built flats or maisonettes in more detail, 17 per cent of primary dwelling fires were in purpose-built low-rise (1-3 storeys) flats or maisonettes; seven per cent were in purpose-built medium-rise (4-9 storeys) flats or maisonettes and three per cent were in purpose-built high-rise (10+ storeys) flats or maisonettes.

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

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

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

Key result

In the year ending December 2021:

• FRSs attended 224,624 fire false alarms, an increase of two per cent compared with the previous year (220,415), virtually unchanged compared with five years ago (224,999) and a decrease of ten per cent compared with ten years ago (249,730)

Fire false alarms by type

The number of fire false alarms attended by FRSs in England was on a general downward trajectory, from a peak of around 393,900 early in the 2000s to a low of around 211,000 in the year ending September 2015. Since then, the number climbed to around 232,000 in the year ending September 2018 but decreased in the following years (see Figure 3.1).

The proportion of total incidents that were fire false alarms in the year ending December 2021 was 40 per cent. This proportion has been relatively stable over the past decade, varying between 39 and 44 per cent.

Figure 3.1: Total fire false alarms by type of false alarm, England; year ending December 2011 to year ending December 2021

Source: FIRE0102

In the year ending December 2021 there were:

• 154,572 fire false alarms due to apparatus: an eight per cent increase from the previous year (143,668), a two per cent increase from five years previously (151,845) and an eight per cent decrease from ten years previously (168,293)

• 64,294 fire false alarms due to good intent: a ten per cent decrease from the previous year (71,464), a three per cent decrease from five years previously (66,207) and a ten per cent decrease from ten years previously (71,428)

• 5,758 malicious fire false alarms: a nine per cent increase from the previous year (5,283), a 17 per cent decrease from five years previously (6,947) and a 42 per cent decrease from ten years previously (10,009) Source: FIRE0104

The differing directions of change in false alarm incident types have, in part, appeared to be the result of the three national lockdowns, various local lockdowns and restrictions on life throughout the year ending March 2021 in response to the COVID-19 pandemic. These are discussed further in Fire and rescue incident statistics: England, year ending March 2021

4. Non-fire incidents attended

FRSs attend many types of incident that are not fires or fire false alarms. These are known as non-fire incidents or special service incidents. Examples include flooding incidents, responding to road traffic collisions, animal assistance 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 2021:

• FRSs attended 183,439 non-fire incidents, an 18 per cent increase compared with the previous year (154,893) and a five per cent increase compared with five years ago (174,255) Source: FIRE0901

Of these non-fire incidents:

• FRSs attended 56,801 collaborating incidents^{[footnote 1]}, a 25 per cent increase compared with the previous year (45,551) Source: FIRE0901

• FRSs attended 28,180 road traffic collisions, a 15 per cent increase compared with the previous year (24,567) Source: FIRE0901

• FRSs attended 17,505 medical incidents^{[footnote 2]}, a 22 per cent increase compared with the previous year (14,307) Source: FIRE0901

All non-fire incidents attended

There was a general decline in the number of non-fire incidents attended between the year to March 2008 and the year to September 2015 (Figure 4.1). This was followed by a large increase of almost two-fifths to the year to March 2017, coinciding with the introduction of emergency medical responding (EMR) and the duty to collaborate legislation. When the EMR trial stopped in 2017 the total number of non-fire incidents slowly decreased to around 160,000 in the year ending September 2020.

In the year ending December 2021 this slow decrease was reversed with an 18 per cent increase in non-fire incidents compared to the previous year, and the largest four incident categories all showed increases.

Figure 4.1: Total non-fire incidents attended by FRSs, England; year ending December 2011 to year ending December 2021

Source: FIRE0901

In the year ending December 2021 FRSs attended 183,439 non-fire incidents, the largest figure for four quarters since comparable data became available. This was an 18 per cent increase compared with the previous year (154,893), a five per cent increase compared with five years ago (174,255) and a 39 per cent increase compared with ten years ago (131,899). The large change between 2020 and 2021 partly reflects the impact of national lockdowns and restrictions in 2020.

Types of non-fire incidents

Overall the number of non-fire incidents increased by 18 per cent, compared to the previous year as shown in Table 4.1. The table shows that while all four major incident types increased over this time the largest percentage change was in the largest category, collaborating incidents. Again, the comparator year was affected by the national lockdowns and restrictions that were particularly strong in the year to December 2020 although as noted above, this is the largest figure for four quarters since comparable data became available.

Table 4.1: The largest categories of non-fire incidents attended by FRSs in England; year ending December 2020 to year ending December 2021

Non-fire incident type	Year ending Dec 2020	Year ending Dec 2021	% change
Total non-fire incidents	154,893	183,439	+18%
Collaborating incidents	45,551	56,801	+25%
Road traffic collisions	24,567	28,180	+15%
Medical incidents	14,307	17,505	+22%
Flooding incidents	14,918	16,662	+12%

Source: FIRE0901, FIRE0902

The 25 per cent increase in collaborating incidents, compared to the previous year, continues a recent trend of increases.

In the year to March 2015, there were 21,146 collaborating incidents, but by the year to December 2021 this had increased by two and a half fold to 56,801.

The start of the increase coincided with the duty to collaborate legislation, whereby each emergency service “must keep under consideration whether entering into a collaboration agreement with one or more other relevant emergency services in England could be in the interests of the efficiency or effectiveness of that service and those other services.”

The 12 per cent increase in flooding incidents, compared to the previous year, is likely due to worse rainfall-related weather events.

The 22 per cent increase in medical incidents compared to the previous year counters a recent trend of decreases. The recent downward trend follows the removal of FBU support for emergency medical responding (EMR) trials. These trials began in 2015 when the National Joint Council (NJC) supported trials where FRSs formed agreements with ambulance trusts to undertake health and care related work, in particular, co-responding. There was a large increase of almost two-fifths to the year to March 2017, coinciding with the introduction. Following the withdrawal of the Fire Brigades Union (FBU) support in September 2017, the number of these incidents decreased to a level slightly higher than before the trials.

The 15 per cent increase in road traffic collisions, compared to December 2020, probably reflects increases in road traffic compared to 2020 where the number of journeys were affected by national lockdowns and restrictions. Prior to that the series was relatively stable.

5. Fire-related fatalities and casualties

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

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

As the Incident Recording System (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.

Key results

In the year ending December 2021:

• there were 280 fire-related fatalities (see Figure 5.1) compared with 220 in the previous year (an increase of 27 per cent)

Source: FIRE0502

• the 98 fire-related fatalities in the final three months of 2021 was the highest quarterly figure recorded since April, May and June in 2017 (the quarter the Grenfell Tower occurred in) and prior to that the greatest since October, November and December in 2008

• there were 210 fire-related fatalities in dwelling fires, compared with 176 in the previous year (an increase of 19 per cent)

• there were 6,201 non-fatal casualties^{[footnote 3]}, a six per cent decrease compared with 6,585 in the previous year - this includes 2,577 casualties requiring hospital treatment, a five per cent decrease compared with the 2,723 in the previous year Source: FIRE0502

Fire-related fatalities

The number of fire-related fatalities in England has been on a general downward trend from the early 1980s when comparable figures first became available. There was an exceptionally high figure in the year ending December 2017 (Figure 5.1) due to the Grenfell Tower fire ^{[footnote 4]}.

The latest quarterly number of fire-related fatalities was the highest since April to June 2017 (the quarter the Grenfell Tower fire occurred in) and prior to that the greatest since October, November and December in 2008. Fire-related fatalities in dwelling fires are the largest category and have also shown the largest figure since April, May and June in 2017, but a relatively large number of road vehicle fire fatalities (15) also contributed to the large increase. It should also be noted that the numbers of fire-related fatalities, whether annual or quarterly, are prone to fluctuations due to relatively low numbers.

Figure 5.1: Total fire-related fatalities, England; year ending December 2011 to year ending December 2021

Source: FIRE0502

Note:

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”.

A very small proportion of fires resulted in a fire-related fatality in the year ending December 2021: 263 out of the 62,301 primary fires (0.42%). This proportion compares with the previous year, when there were 211 fires with a fire-related fatality, out of the 64,072 primary fires (0.33%).

There were 767 fires in purpose-built high-rise (10+ storeys) flats or maisonettes in the year ending December 2021, three of which resulted in at least one fatality, the same as in the previous year.

There were five fire-related fatalities in purpose-built high-rise (10+ storeys) flats or maisonettes in the year ending December 2021, compared to three in the previous year.

There were 109 fire-related fatalities in single occupancy houses in the year ending December 2021, compared to 97 in the previous year. A full breakdown of fire-related fatalities by dwelling type can be found in table FIRE0205b.

Non-fatal casualties

The number of non-fatal casualties in fires in England has been on a downward trend since the mid-1990s. More detailed data became available due to the introduction of the online IRS in 2009, and since then the “hospital slight” and “first aid” categories have shown the biggest decline. Compared with the year ending December 2020, there were decreases in the hospital slight (down 8%), first aid (down 7%) and precautionary check (down 5%) categories and an increase in the hospital severe (up 6%) category.

Overall, there were 6,201 non-fatal casualties, a six per cent decrease compared with 6,585 in the previous year.

Figure 5.2: Total non-fatal casualties in fires by injury severity, England; year ending December 2011 to year ending December 2021

Source: FIRE0502

Note:

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

6. Response times to fire incidents

Headline findings on response times have been included in Fire and Rescue Incident Statistics since the year ending March 2021 edition. 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 financial year 2020 to 2021 can be found in Detailed Analysis of Fire Response Times

Key results

In the year ending December 2021:

• the average total response time to primary fires^{[footnote 5]} in England was 8 minutes and 46 seconds: an increase of 11 seconds since the previous year Source: FIRE1001

• all types of primary fires showed an increase in average response times (dwelling fires by ten seconds, other building fires by 16 seconds, road vehicle fires by 16 seconds and other outdoor fires by seven seconds)

• the average total response time to secondary fires^{[footnote 6]} (which can broadly be thought of as smaller outdoor fires, not involving people or property) in England decreased by eight seconds, compared with the previous year, to 9 minutes and 14 seconds

Response times 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.

The following incidents are not included in response time totals.

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

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

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

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

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

Looking at the long-term trend, response times to fires increased gradually between the year ending March 1995 (when these data were first collected) and the year ending March 2015. Since then, they have generally levelled off. The average total response time to primary fires in the year ending December 2021 was 8 minutes and 46 seconds, an increase of 43 seconds over the past decade, seven seconds in the past five years and 11 seconds over the last year - the pattern varied across different types of fire (see Figure 6.1).

The average response time to dwelling fires increased ten seconds in the year ending December 2021 compared with the previous year (from 7 minutes and 37 seconds to 7 minutes and 47 seconds). Within the dwelling fire category, the average response time to fires in purpose-built flats/maisonettes was 7 minutes and 3 seconds; to houses and bungalows it was 8 minutes and 16 seconds and 7 minutes and 43 seconds for other dwellings. This may reflect the fact that flats are generally in urban locations which tend to be in closer proximity to a fire station than rural areas.

The average response time to other building fires in the year ending December 2021 was 8 minutes and 48 seconds, an increase of 16 seconds compared with the previous year. Of these, the average response time to fires in other residential buildings (such as student halls of residence, nursing or care homes and hotels) was 8 minutes and 18 seconds, compared with 8 minutes and 52 seconds for non-residential buildings. This was likely due to FRSs prioritising fires with the greatest risk to life.

Response times for road vehicle fires increased. The average response time in the year ending December 2021 was 9 minutes and 44 seconds, an increase of 16 seconds compared with the previous year.

The average response time to other outdoor fires increased by seven seconds to 11 minutes and 12 seconds. It should be noted that other outdoor fires are numerically the smallest of the main primary fire types and so are prone to fluctuation as illustrated in Figure 6.1.

In the year ending December 2021 the average response time to secondary fires was 9 minutes and 14 seconds, a decrease of five seconds from last year. This was the only incident type to show a decrease in average response time between December 2020 and December 2021.

Figure 6.1: Average total response times (minutes) by type of fire, England; year ending December 2011 to year ending December 2021

Source: FIRE1001

7. Summary of changes over time

Table 7.1: Number of incidents, comparing the year ending December 2021 with one, five and ten years previously

Incident type	Year ending Dec 2021	Year ending Dec 2020	1 year change	Year ending Dec 2016	5 year change	Year ending Dec 2011	10 year change
All incidents	555,358	528,616	+5%	561,773	-1%	605,059	-8%
Fires	147,295	153,308	-4%	162,519	-9%	223,430	-34%
Primary fires	62,301	64,072	-3%	75,521	-18%	87,729	-29%
Dwelling fires	27,015	27,485	-2%	31,186	-13%	35,299	-23%
Accidental dwelling fires	24,362	24,646	-1%	28,134	-13%	30,586	-20%
Secondary fires	81,982	86,162	-5%	82,541	-1%	129,422	-37%
Fire false alarms	224,624	220,415	+2%	224,999	+0%	249,730	-10%
Non-fire incidents	183,439	154,893	+18%	174,255	+5%	131,899	+39%

Table 7.2: Number of fire-related fatalities and non-fatal casualties, comparing the year ending December 2021 with one, five and ten years previously

Fatalities and non-fatal casualties	Year ending Dec 2021	Year ending Dec 2020	1 year change	Year ending Dec 2016	5 year change	Year ending Dec 2011	10 year change
Fire-related fatalities	280	220	+27%	274	+2%	317	-12%
Fire-related fatalities in dwellings	210	176	+19%	223	-6%	226	-7%
Non-fatal casualties	6,201	6,585	-6%	7,333	-15%	9,336	-34%
Non-fatal casualties requiring hospital treatment	2,577	2,723	-5%	3,170	-19%	4,280	-40%
Non-fatal casualties in dwellings	4,720	5,058	-7%	5,566	-15%	7,287	-35%

Table 7.3: Average response times, comparing the year ending December 2021 with one, five and ten years previously

Fire type	Year ending Dec 2021	Year ending Dec 2020	1 year change	Year ending Dec 2016	5 year change	Year ending Dec 2011	10 year change
Primary fires	8m 46s	8m 35s	+11s	8m 39s	+7s	8m 3s	+43s
Dwellings	7m 47s	7m 37s	+10s	7m 47s	+0s	7m 16s	+31s
Other buildings	8m 48s	8m 32s	+16s	8m 31s	+17s	7m 50s	+58s
Road vehicles	9m 44s	9m 28s	+16s	9m 41s	+3s	8m 58s	+46s
Other outdoors	11m 12s	11m 5s	+7s	10m 42s	+30s	9m 51s	+1m 21s
Secondary fires	9m 14s	9m 22s	-8s	9m 9s	+5s	8m 37s	+37s

Source: Fire statistics data tables

8. Further information

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

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

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

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

The information published in this release is kept under review, taking into account the needs of users and burdens on suppliers and producers, in line with the Code of Practice for Statistics. The Office for Statistics Regulation recently carried out a compliance check of the Home Office’s fire and rescue incident statistics against the Code of Practice and the results can be found in a letter to the Home Office’s Head of Profession published on the OSR website.

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

Revisions

The IRS is a continually updated database, with FRSs adding incidents daily. The figures in this release refer to records of incidents that occurred up to and including 31 December 2021. This includes incident records that were submitted to the IRS by 7 March 2022, when a snapshot of the database was taken for the purpose of analysis. As a snapshot of the dataset was taken on 7 March 2022, the statistics published may not match those held locally by FRSs and revisions may occur in the future. This is particularly the case for statistics with relatively small numbers, such as fire-related fatalities. For instance, this can occur because coroner’s reports may mean the initial view taken by the FRS will need to be revised; this can take many months, even years, to do so.

COVID-19 and the impact on the IRS

The figures presented in this release relate to incidents attended by FRSs during year ending December 2021.

In response to the coronavirus pandemic, restrictions in England, Scotland and Wales started from 12 March 2020. In England three lockdowns which applied strict limits on daily life were imposed. A first lockdown was applied on 23 March 2020 and was eased from 15 June 2020, a second lockdown began on 5 November 2020 and ended on 2 December 2020 and the third began on 4 January 2021 and ended on 12 April 2021. The restrictions and lockdowns are therefore captured in IRS data for this year and the comparator year.

Extra analyses on fire and rescue incidents during this period can be found in the year to March 2021 edition of this release, detailed analysis of fires attended by fire and rescue services, England, April 2020 to March 2021 and detailed analysis of non-fire incidents: England, April 2020 to March 2021.

Other related publications

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

These include:

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

• Detailed analysis of non-fire incidents attended by fire and rescue services, England: focuses on non-fire incidents attended by fire and rescue services across England, including analysis on overall trends, fatalities and non-fatal casualties in non-fire incidents, and further detailed analysis of different categories of non-fire incidents

• Fire and rescue workforce and pensions statistics: focuses on total workforce numbers, workforce diversity and information regarding leavers and joiners; covers both pension fund income and expenditure and firefighters’ pension schemes membership; and includes information on incidents involving attacks on firefighters

• Fire prevention and protection statistics, England: focuses on trends in smoke alarm ownership, fire prevention and protection activities by fire and rescue services

• Response times to fires attended by fire and rescue services, England: covers statistics on trends in average response times to fires attended by fire and rescue services

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

These include:

• 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

• the English Housing Survey: feeling safe from fire report focuses on whether people felt safe from fire in their homes by household and dwelling type

Fire statistics are published by the other UK nations:

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

National Statistics

These statistics have been assessed by the UK Statistics Authority to ensure that they continue to meet the standards required to be designated as National Statistics. This statistical bulletin is produced to the highest professional standards and is free from political interference. It has been produced by statisticians working in accordance with the Home Office’s Statement of compliance with the Code of Practice for Official Statistics, which covers Home Office policy on revisions and other matters. The Chief Statistician, as Head of Profession, reports to the National Statistician with respect to all professional statistical matters and oversees all Home Office National Statistics products with respect to the Code, being responsible for their timing, content and methodology. This means that these statistics meet the highest standards of trustworthiness, impartiality, quality and public value, and are fully compliant with the Code of Practice for Statistics.

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

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

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

4. For more information on the Grenfell Tower fire and how the associated fire-related fatalities figures are recorded, see the Fire Statistics Definitions document. ↩

5. Primary fires are those that meet at least one 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 five or more pumping appliances. ↩

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