Accredited official statistics

Fire and rescue incident statistics: England, year ending December 2023

Published 25 April 2024

Applies to England

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This publication is available at https://www.gov.uk/government/statistics/fire-and-rescue-incident-statistics-year-ending-december-2023/fire-and-rescue-incident-statistics-england-year-ending-december-2023

Frequency of release: Quarterly

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 quarterly release contains statistics about incidents attended by fire and rescue services (FRSs) in England for the year ending December 2023 covering the last 10 years. The statistics are sourced from the Home Office’s online Incident Recording System (IRS) and include statistics on all incidents, fire-related fatalities, casualties from fires and response times to fires.

Key results

FRSs attended 592,996 incidents in the year ending December 2023, a decrease of 5.6% compared with the previous year (628,034). Of these incidents, there were 142,276 fires, which was a decrease of 22% compared with the previous year (183,312). These decreases can be attributed to a decrease of 32% in secondary fires and a decrease of 39% in outdoor primary fires, as the comparator year covers the hot, dry summer of 2022.

Figure KR.1: Total incidents attended by incident type, England; the year ending December 2013 to the year ending December 2023

Source: FIRE0102

In the year ending December 2023, there were 269 fire-related fatalities in 250 fatal fires, compared with 257 fire-related fatalities in 238 fatal fires the previous year.

Figure KR.2: Total fire-related fatalities, England; the year ending December 2013 to the year ending December 2023

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 2023:

  • 592,996 incidents were attended by FRSs, a decrease of 5.6% compared with the previous year (628,034), an increase of 2.6% compared with 5 years ago (578,150) and an increase of 12% compared with 10 years ago (529,167); Source: FIRE0102, figure KR.1
  • of all incidents attended by FRSs, fires accounted for 24%, fire false alarms 42% and non-fire incidents 34%, compared with fires accounting for 33%, fire false alarms 43% and non-fire incidents 24% 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 2013, there were around 529,000 incidents attended, which had increased by around 12% to 593,000 by the year ending December 2023. The year ending December 2022 showed the most incidents attended (roughly 628,000) for over a decade, due to the hot, dry summer of 2022. When compared to that high figure, there was a decrease of 5.6% overall in the year ending December 2023.

As figure 1.1 shows the share of incidents between incident types has changed over the past decade, with a greater share of incidents being non-fire incidents over recent years.

Figure 1.1: Total incidents attended by incident type, England; the year ending December 2013 to the year ending December 2023

Source: FIRE0102

Notes:

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

2. Fires attended

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

Primary fires Those that meet at least 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 2023:

  • FRSs attended 142,276 fires, the smallest rolling year figure since data became available in the year ending March 2002; Source: FIRE0102
  • fires decreased by 22% compared with the previous year (183,312) and decreased by 19% compared with 10 years ago (174,916); Source: FIRE0102
  • there were 62,378 primary fires, a decrease of 7.0% compared with the previous year (67,066), and a decrease of 16% compared with 10 years ago (74,703); Source: FIRE0102
  • there were 77,585 secondary fires, a decrease of 32% compared with the previous year (113,688) and a decrease of 16% compared with 10 years ago (92,817); Source: FIRE0102
  • FRSs attended 702 fires in purpose-built high-rise (10 or more storeys) flats or maisonettes, a decrease of 4.2% compared with the previous year (733); 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 142,000 and 184,000. The number of fires is affected by the weather and the summers of 2013, 2018 and 2022 were relatively hot and dry, which caused high numbers of fires, particularly outdoor primary and secondary fires.

Figure 2.1: Total fires attended by type of fire, England; year ending December 2013 to year ending December 2023

Source: FIRE0102

Outdoor fires in 2022

The year ending December 2022 showed the most fires attended (roughly 183,000) for over a decade, due to the hot, dry summer of 2022 when there was a large number of outdoor fires. During the quarter July to September 2022, there were 48,311 secondary fires (this was the largest number of secondary fires in any quarter since April to June 2010, which had 49,635) and 3,997 outdoor primary fires. Compared to that high figure of roughly 183,000 total fires, there was a decrease of 22% overall in the year ending December 2023.

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

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 44% of total fires in the year ending December 2023. This compares with 37% in the previous year, 41% 5 years ago and 43% 10 years ago. The proportion of total fires accounted for by primary fires has fluctuated year-on-year over the past decade.

There were 39,173 building fires (dwelling and other building fires) in the year ending December 2023, which was 6.6% of all incidents, 28% of all fires and 63% of all primary fires. This reflects the changing mix of incidents and fire types within primary fires over the past decade, as in the year ending December 2013 9.4% of all incidents, 28% of all fires and 66% of all primary fires were building fires.

3. Fire false alarms

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

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

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

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

Key results

In the year ending December 2023:

  • FRSs attended 249,655 fire false alarms, the largest rolling year figure since the year ending December 2011
  • fire false alarms increased by 2.8% compared with the previous year (242,913), increased by 7.8% compared with 5 years ago (231,693) and increased by 10% compared with 10 years ago (226,333); 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 211,000 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 250,000 in the year ending December 2023.

Figure 3.1: Total fire false alarms by type of false alarm, England; year ending December 2013 to year ending December 2023

Source: FIRE0102

Figure 3.1 shows the type of fire false alarm incidents by year. In the year ending December 2023, there were:

  • 177,550 fire false alarms due to apparatus (the highest rolling year figure in the past decade), an increase of 6.6% from the previous year (166,555), an increase of 16% from 5 years previously (152,639) and an increase of 17% from 10 years previously (151,327); Source: FIRE0104
  • 65,562 fire false alarms due to good intent, a decrease of 6.2% from the previous year (69,930), a decrease of 8.8% from 5 years previously (71,886) and a decrease of 2.5% from 10 years previously (67,240); Source: FIRE0104
  • 6,543 malicious fire false alarms, an increase of 1.8% compared with the previous year (6,428), but a decrease of 8.7% from 5 years previously (7,168) and a decrease of 16% from 10 years previously (7,766); Source: FIRE0104

4. Non-fire incidents attended

FRSs attend many types of incidents that are not fires or fire false alarms. These are known as non-fire incidents or special service incidents. Examples include flooding incidents, responding to road traffic collisions (RTCs), animal assistance and collaborating incidents such as effecting entry or exit and assisting other agencies (a complete list can be found in fire data table FIRE0902).

Key results

In the year ending December 2023:

  • FRSs attended 201,065 non-fire incidents, virtually unchanged compared with the previous year (201,809), an increase of 20% compared with 5 years ago (168,208) and an increase of 57% compared with 10 years ago (127,918); Source: FIRE0901

Types of non-fire incidents

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

The figure for the year ending December 2020, and in particular the number of RTCs, was affected by the COVID-19 pandemic.

Figure 4.1: Total non-fire incidents attended by FRSs, England; year ending December 2013 to year ending December 2023

Source: FIRE0901

Over the past 10 years, the number of “other non-fire incidents” has increased from roughly 53,000 to approximately 72,200, an increase of 36%. The number of these incidents is however virtually unchanged compared to the previous year. This grouping contains a variety of incident types, as provided in FIRE0901. The increase over the past decade in other non-fire incidents occurs for many of the sub-types in this wide-ranging category, though the largest increase is for “no action” - an incident type that covers occasions where a non-fire emergency call is made but action is not required when the firefighters arrive at the scene. Given there are more non-fire incidents generally, and assisting other agencies incidents, it follows that the number of “no action” incidents increase as some non-fire incidents will inevitably end in no action.

Table 4.1 shows that collaborating incidents and RTCs increased in the year ending December 2023 compared with the previous year, whereas medical incidents and flooding incidents decreased.

Table 4.1: The main categories of non-fire incidents attended by FRSs in England; year ending December 2022 to year ending December 2023

Non-fire incident type Year ending December 2023 Year ending December 2022 % change
Total non-fire incidents 201,065 201,809 -0.4%
Collaborating incidents 65,433 63,541 3.0%
Road traffic collisions (RTCs) 31,448 31,204 0.8%
Flooding incidents 16,717 17,316 -3.5%
Medical incidents 15,278 17,433 -12%
Other non-fire incidents 72,189 72,315 -0.2%

Source: FIRE0901, FIRE0902

Collaborating incidents

In the year ending December 2023:

  • FRSs attended 65,433 collaborating incidents[footnote 1], this is the highest figure since the implementation of the online IRS; Source: FIRE0901
  • collaborating incidents accounted for 33% of non-fire incidents, an increase from 31% from the previous year and 25% 5 years ago

The number of collaborating incidents has almost trebled from around 23,800 in year ending December 2015 to around 65,400 in year ending December 2023. These increases coincided with the introduction of the duty to collaborate legislation.

For the year ending December 2023, there were distinct changes in the 3 sub-categories of collaborating incidents on the previous year, with:

  • assisting other agencies decreasing by 1.6% to 27,168
  • effecting entry or exit increasing by 6.1% to 35,198
  • assisting at suicide attempts increasing by 12% to 3,067

Medical incidents

In the year ending December 2023:

  • FRSs attended 15,278 medical incidents[footnote 2], a decrease of 12% compared with the previous year (17,433) and a decrease of 33% compared with 5 years ago (22,836), when emergency medical responding trials (EMR) were in operation; Source: FIRE0901
  • medical incidents accounted for 7.6% of non-fire incidents, a decrease from 8.6% the previous year and from 14% 5 years ago

Medical incidents peaked in the year ending December 2016 (45,682), during the EMR trials, and subsequently decreased. Since the year ending December 2019, the number of medical incidents attended has fluctuated between around 13,800 and 19,200 for a rolling year.

Road traffic collisions (RTCs)

In the year ending December 2023:

  • FRSs attended 31,448 RTCs, an increase of 0.8% compared to the previous year (31,204) and an increase of 1.4% compared with 5 years ago (31,001); Source: FIRE0901
  • RTCs accounted for 16% of non-fire incidents, virtually unchanged compared with the previous year but a decrease from 18% 5 years ago

RTCs generally increased from around 27,700 in the year ending December 2013 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. Subsequently the numbers have returned to a level similar to that seen prior to COVID-19.

Flooding incidents

In the year ending December 2023:

  • FRSs attended 16,717 flooding incidents, a decrease of 3.5% compared with the previous year (17,316) but an increase of 2.2% compared with 5 years ago (16,357); Source: FIRE0901
  • flooding incidents accounted for 8.3% of non-fire incidents, virtually unchanged from 8.6% the previous year but a decrease compared with 9.7% 5 years ago; Source: FIRE0901

The number of flooding incidents has fluctuated between around 12,600 and 17,400 over the past decade.

5. Fire-related fatalities and casualties

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

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

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

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

Key results

In the year ending December 2023:

  • there were 269 fire-related fatalities compared with 257 in the previous year (an increase of 4.7%); Source: FIRE0502
  • there were 2 fatal fires resulting in 2 fire-related fatalities in purpose-built high-rise flats or maisonettes, compared to 4 fatal fires with 4 fire-related fatalities in the previous year; Source: FIRE0205
  • there were 195 fire-related fatalities in dwelling fires, compared with 206 in the previous year (a decrease of 5.3%); Source: FIRE0502
  • there were 6,343 non-fatal casualties[footnote 3], an increase of 2.7% compared with the 6,176 in the previous year; Source: FIRE0502
  • there were 2,766 non-fatal casualties requiring hospital treatment, an increase of 9.7% compared with the 2,521 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 (294)[footnote 4] and the year ending December 2017 (340) - 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.

The number of fire-related fatalities (73) in the most recent quarter (October to December 2023) compares to 36, 80 and 80 in the previous 3 quarters of the year ending December 2023. It should be noted that the numbers of fire-related fatalities, whether annual or quarterly, are prone to fluctuations due to relatively small numbers.

Fire-related fatalities in dwelling fires are the largest category, accounting for 72% of fire-related fatalities in the year ending December 2023. During this year, there were 195 fire-related fatalities in dwelling fires, a decrease of 5.3% compared with 206 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 one fatality has been relatively stable over the same period. There were 269 fire-related fatalities in the year ending December 2023, from 250 fires that resulted in at least one fatality.

Figure 5.1: Total fire-related fatalities, fires that resulted in at least one fatality and the percentage of fires that resulted in a fatality England; year ending December 2013 to year ending December 2023

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 2023, FRSs attended 702 fires in purpose-built high-rise (10 or more storeys) flats or maisonettes, a decrease of 4.2% compared with the previous year (733), a decrease of 14% compared with 5 years ago (819) and a decrease of 17% compared with 10 years ago (846).

Over the 5 years ending in December 2023, FRSs attended 3,773 fires in purpose-built high-rise (10 or more storeys) flats or maisonettes, which resulted in 16 fatal fires and 18 fire-related fatalities. This compared to 3,907 fires, resulting in 16 fatal fires and 86 fire-related fatalities in the 5 years previously, ending December 2018 (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 2023, there were 6,343 non-fatal casualties, an increase of 2.7% compared with the previous year (6,176). The 4 sub-categories were as follows:

  • 604 hospital severe casualties, an increase of 12% compared with the previous year
  • 2,162 hospital slight casualties, an increase of 9.1% compared with the previous year
  • 1,605 first aid casualties, a decrease of 11% compared with the previous year
  • 1,972 precautionary check casualties, an increase of 6.8% compared with the previous year

Figure 5.2: Total non-fatal casualties in fires by injury severity, England; year ending December 2013 to year ending December 2023

Source: FIRE0502

Notes:

  1. These figures are for all 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 2023 can be found in Detailed analysis of fire response times.

Key results

In the year ending December 2023:

  • the average total response time to primary fires[footnote 6] in England was 9 minutes and 2 seconds, a decrease of 11 seconds on the previous year; Source: FIRE1001
  • the average total response time to secondary fires[footnote 7] in England went from 9 minutes and 44 seconds to 9 minutes and 24 seconds, a decrease of 20 seconds; Source: FIRE1001

The decrease in the year ending December 2023 on the year ending December 2022 was likely due in part to the decreased number of incidents since the hot dry summer of 2022.

Response times to fire incidents

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

The following incidents are not included in response time totals:

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

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

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

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

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

As shown in figure 6.1, response times to fires have increased gradually over the past decade. There was a decrease in the average response time to primary fires in the year ending December 2020, probably due to the impact of less traffic during the COVID-19 pandemic. Within this gradual upward trend, there were spikes in the year ending December 2018 and December 2022, probably due to the greater number of incidents in those years.

Figure 6.1: Average total response times (minutes) by type of fire, England; year ending December 2013 to year ending December 2023

Source: FIRE1001

All primary fires

The average response time to primary fires was 9 minutes and 2 seconds, in the year ending December 2023. This was:

  • a decrease of 11 seconds compared with the previous year (9 minutes and 13 seconds)
  • an increase of 12 seconds compared with 5 years ago (8 minutes and 50 seconds)
  • an increase of 48 seconds compared with 10 years ago (8 minutes and 14 seconds)

Dwelling fires

The average response time to dwelling fires was 8 minutes and 0 seconds, in the year ending December 2023. This was:

  • a decrease of 1 second compared with the previous year (8 minutes and 1 second)
  • an increase of 10 seconds compared with 5 years ago (7 minutes and 50 seconds)
  • an increase of 32 seconds compared with 10 years ago (7 minutes and 28 seconds)

Primary outdoor fires

The average response time to other outdoor fires was 11 minutes and 22 seconds, in the year ending December 2023. This was:

  • a decrease of 1 minute 6 seconds compared with the previous year (12 minutes and 28 seconds)
  • a decrease of 10 seconds compared with 5 years ago (11 minutes and 32 seconds)
  • an increase of 1 minute 6 seconds compared with 10 years ago (10 minutes and 16 seconds)

It should be noted that other outdoor fires are numerically the smallest of the main primary fire types, accounting for 7.3% of primary fires in the year ending December 2023. The small number of primary outdoor fires means that the response times are prone to fluctuation, which can impact year-on-year comparisons. These incidents decreased by 39% from the previous year, reflecting the high number of outdoor fires in the hot dry summer of 2022.

Secondary fires

The average response time to secondary fires was 9 minutes and 24 seconds, in the year ending December 2023. This was:

  • a decrease of 20 seconds compared with the previous year (9 minutes and 44 seconds)
  • a decrease of 18 seconds compared with 5 years ago (9 minutes and 42 seconds)
  • an increase of 41 seconds compared with 10 years ago (8 minutes and 43 seconds)

The decrease in the average response time to secondary fires might reflect the 32% decrease in the number of these incidents attended compared with the previous year.

7. Summary of changes over time

Table 7.1: Number of incidents, comparing the year ending December 2023 with 1, 5 and 10 years previously

Incident Type Year ending December 2023 Year ending December 2022 1-year change Year ending December 2018 5-year change Year ending December 2013 10-year change
All incidents 592,996 628,034 -5.6% 578,150 2.6% 529,167 12%
Fires 142,276 183,312 -22% 178,249 -20% 174,916 -19%
Primary fires 62,378 67,066 -7.0% 73,449 -15% 74,703 -16%
Dwellings fires 25,935 27,006 -4.0% 30,034 -14% 32,766 -21%
Accidental dwelling fires 23,277 24,249 -4.0% 26,989 -14% 29,422 -21%
Outdoor primary fires 4,554 7,449 -39% 6,590 -31% 5,160 -12%
Secondary fires 77,585 113,688 -32% 101,042 -23% 92,817 -16%
Fire false alarms 249,655 242,913 2.8% 231,693 7.8% 226,333 10%
Non-fire incidents 201,065 201,809 -0.4% 168,208 20% 127,918 57%
Fatalities and non-fatal casualties Year ending December 2023 Year ending December 2022 1-year change Year ending December 2018 5-year change Year ending December 2013 10-year change
Fire-related fatalities 269 257 4.7% 259 3.9% 298 -9.7%
Fire-related fatalities in dwellings 195 206 -5.3% 198 -1.5% 233 -16%
Non-fatal casualties 6,343 6,176 2.7% 7,030 -9.8% 8,136 -22%
Non-fatal casualties requiring hospital treatment 2,766 2,521 9.7% 3,146 -12% 3,629 -24%
Non-fatal casualties in dwellings 4,735 4,538 4.3% 5,264 -10% 6,359 -26%

Table 7.3: Average response times, comparing the year ending December 2023 with 1, 5 and 10 years previously

Type of Fire Year ending December 2023 Year ending December 2022 1-year change Year ending December 2018 5-year change Year ending December 2013 10-year change
Primary fires 9m 02s 9m 13s -11s 8m 50s +12s 8m 14s +48s
Dwellings 8m 00s 8m 01s -1s 7m 50s +10s 7m 28s +32s
Other buildings 9m 02s 8m 56s +6s 8m 35s +27s 8m 00s +1m 2s
Other outdoors 11m 22s 12m 28s -1m 6s 11m 32s -10s 10m 16s +1m 6s
Road vehicles 10m 06s 9m 59s +7s 9m 45s +21s 9m 20s +46s
Secondary fires 9m 24s 9m 44s -20s 9m 42s -18s 8m 43s +41s

Source: Fire statistics data tables

8. Further information

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

Fire and rescue incident statistics and other Home Office statistical releases are available via the Statistics at Home Office pages on the GOV.UK website.

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

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

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

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

Revisions

The IRS is a continually updated database, with FRSs adding incidents daily. The figures in this release refer to records of incidents that occurred up to and including the end of December 2023. This includes incident records that were submitted to the IRS by 27 February 2024, when a snapshot of the database was taken for the purpose of analysis. As a snapshot of the dataset was taken on 27 February 2024, the statistics published may not match those held locally by FRSs and revisions may occur in the future. This is particularly the case for statistics with relatively small numbers, such as fire-related fatalities. For instance, this can occur because coroner’s reports may mean the initial view taken by the FRS will need to be revised; this can take many months, even years, to do so.

COVID-19 and the impact on the IRS

The figures presented in this release relate to incidents attended by FRSs during year ending December 2023. In response to the COVID-19 pandemic, restrictions in England, Scotland and Wales started from 12 March 2020. In England, 3 lockdowns which applied strict limits on daily life were imposed. A first lockdown was applied on 23 March 2020 and was eased from 15 June 2020, a second lockdown began on 5 November 2020 and ended on 2 December 2020 and the third began on 4 January 2021 and ended on 12 April 2021.

Extra analyses on fire and rescue incidents during this period can be found in 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 and detailed analysis of non-fire incidents: England, April 2020 to March 2021. Additionally extra analysis on Detailed analysis of response times to fires: England, April 2021 to March 2022 is available.

Other related publications

Home Office publish 5 other statistical releases covering fire and rescue services.

These include:

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

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

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

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

  5. 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 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 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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