Official Statistics

Detailed analysis of response times to fires attended by fire and rescue services: England, April 2022 to March 2023

Published 23 November 2023

Applies to England

© Crown copyright 2023

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Frequency of release: Annual

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Home Office responsible statistician: Helene Clark

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Headline findings on average response times, by type of fire, are included in the quarterly Fire and Rescue Incident Statistics[footnote 1]. This release, therefore, provides more detailed analysis of the already published fire response times for the year ending March 2022 to 2023 Source: Fire and rescue incident statistics: England, year ending March 2023. As well as a recap of the average response times to fires in the year ending March 2023, the release provides further analysis of response times by Fire and Rescue Authority (FRA) type, response time components, the distribution of response times by one-minute bands and response times and outcomes. Additionally, commentary on trends in FRA vehicle incidents is included within this release. The data for this is sourced from an annual data collection exercise to all services to identify the number of vehicles involved in accidents in the previous year. The data is published in FIRE1402.

The statistics on response times to fires are sourced from the Home Office’s online Incident Recording System (IRS).

Incident Numbers in this report are Incidents included from FIRE1001 unless indicated otherwise, see futher information.

Key results

As previously published, the average response time to primary fires in the year ending March 2023 was 9 minutes and 13 seconds: an increase of 23 seconds compared with the previous year. The largest component was drive time, which showed an increase of 19 seconds to 6 minutes and 14 seconds.

1. Summary of total response time trends

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, that is, when it is received by the Fire Control room.

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).

Key results

In the year ending March 2023[footnote 2]:

  • the average total response time to primary fires[footnote 3] in England was 9 minutes and 13 seconds, the longest average response time seen since comparable statistics became available; Source: FIRE1001

  • there was an increase of 23 seconds in the average first appliance response time to primary fires since the previous year; Source: FIRE1001

  • all types of primary fires showed an increase in average response times compared with the previous year, the largest increase was in primary outdoor fires (an increase of 1 minute 12 seconds); Source: FIRE1001

  • the average total response time to secondary fires[footnote 4] in England saw an increase of 34 seconds, compared with the previous year, to 9 minutes and 47 seconds; Source: FIRE1001

Response times to fire 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 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.

For the past 2 years, response times to primary and dwelling fires have 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. The increase for all fire types in the year ending March 2023 on the year ending March 2022 is likely due to the increased number of incidents attended during the hot, dry summer of 2022.

Figure 1.1: Average total response times (minutes) by type of fire, England; year ending March 2013 to year ending March 2023

Source: FIRE1001

Notes:

  1. Y axis is from 7 to 10 minutes.

The average response times to all main fire categories in the year ending March 2023 were the longest seen since comparable statistics became available.

All primary fires

The average response time to primary fires was 9 minutes and 13 seconds, in the year ending March 2023. This was:

  • an increase of 23 seconds compared with the previous year (8 minutes and 50 seconds)
  • an increase of 35 seconds compared with 5 years ago (8 minutes and 38 seconds)
  • an increase of 1 minute 9 seconds compared with 10 years ago (8 minutes and 4 seconds)

Dwelling fires

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

  • an increase of 8 seconds compared with the previous year (7 minutes and 52 seconds)
  • an increase of 12 seconds compared with 5 years ago (7 minutes and 48 seconds)
  • an increase of 35 seconds compared with 10 years ago (7 minutes and 25 seconds)

Within the dwelling fire category in the year ending March 2023:

  • the average response time to fires in purpose-built flats/maisonettes was 7 minutes and 13 seconds (an increase of 6 seconds compared to the previous year)
  • the average response time to fires in houses and bungalows was 8 minutes and 31 seconds (an increase of 11 seconds compared to the previous year)
  • the average response time to fires in other dwellings was 7 minutes and 55 seconds (an increase of 11 seconds compared to the previous year)

The faster response time to fires in flats may reflect the fact that flats are generally located in urban areas, which tend to be in closer proximity to a fire station than in rural areas.

Other building fires

The average response time to other building fires was 8 minutes and 56 seconds, in the year ending March 2023. This was:

  • an increase of 7 seconds compared with the previous year (8 minutes and 49 seconds)
  • an increase of 29 seconds compared with 5 years ago (8 minutes and 27 seconds)
  • an increase of 1 minute 8 seconds compared with 10 years ago (7 minutes and 48 seconds)

Within the other building fire category in the year ending March 2023:

  • 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 22 seconds
  • the average response time to fires in non-residential buildings was 9 minutes and 1 second.

The slower response time to fires in non-residential buildings compared to dwelling fires was likely due to FRSs prioritising fires with the greatest risk to life.

Road vehicle fires

The average response time to road vehicles fire was 10 minutes and 0 seconds, in the year ending March 2023. This was:

  • an increase of 12 seconds compared with the previous year (9 minutes and 48 seconds)
  • an increase of 25 seconds compared with 5 years ago (9 minutes and 35 seconds)
  • an increase of 51 seconds compared with 10 years ago (9 minutes and 9 seconds)

Primary outdoor fires

The average response time to primary outdoor fires was 12 minutes and 29 seconds, in the year ending March 2023. This was:

  • an increase of 1 minute 12 seconds compared with the previous year (11 minutes and 17 seconds)
  • an increase of 1 minute 43 seconds compared with 5 years ago (10 minutes and 46 seconds)
  • an increase of 2 minutes 52 seconds compared with 10 years ago (9 minutes and 37 seconds)

It should be noted that primary outdoor fires are numerically the smallest of the main primary fire types, accounting for 12% in the year ending March 2023. The small number of primary outdoor fires means that it is more likely for extreme weather events to affect upward pressure on average response times. These incidents increased by 45% from the previous year, reflecting the hot dry summer of 2022.

Secondary fires

The average response time to secondary fires was 9 minutes and 47 seconds, in the year ending March 2023. This was:

  • an increase of 34 seconds compared with the previous year (9 minutes and 13 seconds)
  • an increase of 37 seconds compared with 5 years ago (9 minutes and 10 seconds)
  • an increase of 1 minute 25 seconds compared with 10 years ago (8 minutes and 22 seconds)

The increase in response times might partly reflect an increase of 27% in the number of secondary fires on the previous year. There are large numbers of secondary fires, so figures are less prone to fluctuation. Secondary fires cover a wide range of location types and types of fires.

Table 1.1: Average response times, comparing the year ending March 2023 with one, 5 and 10 years previously

Type of Fire Year ending March 2023 Year ending March 2022 1-Year Change Year ending March 2018 5-Year Change Year ending March 2013 10-Year Change
Primary fires 9m 13s 8m 50s +23s 8m 38s +35s 8m 04s +1m 9s
Dwellings 8m 00s 7m 52s +8s 7m 48s +12s 7m 25s +35s
Other buildings 8m 56s 8m 49s +7s 8m 27s +29s 7m 48s +1m 8s
Other outdoors 12m 29s 11m 17s +1m 12s 10m 46s +1m 43s 9m 37s +2m 52s
Road vehicles 10m 00s 9m 48s +12s 9m 35s +25s 9m 09s +51s
Secondary fires 9m 47s 9m 13s +34s 9m 10s +37s 8m 22s +1m 25s

Source: FIRE1001

2. 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).

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, that is, 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).

Key results

In year ending March 2023:

  • the average call handling time for primary fires showed an increase of 5 seconds compared with the previous year to 1 minute and 26 seconds

  • the average crew turnout time for primary fires showed a decrease of one second compared with the previous year to 1 minute and 33 seconds

  • the average drive time for primary fires showed an increase of 19 seconds compared with the previous year to 6 minutes and 14 seconds

Call handling

The average call handling time to primary fires was 1 minute and 26 seconds, in the year ending March 2023. This was:

  • an increase of 5 seconds compared with the previous year (1 minute and 21 seconds)
  • an increase of 2 seconds compared with 5 years ago (1 minute and 24 seconds)
  • an increase of 15 seconds compared with 10 years ago (1 minute and 11 seconds)

The average call handling time for primary fires increased between year ending March 2011, and year ending March 2011 and then remained broadly stable at around one minute 11 seconds until 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 year ending March 2023, see Figure 2.1.

The average call handling time for secondary fires has stayed broadly stable since year ending March 2015, see Figure 2.2.

Crew Turnout

The average crew turnout time to primary fires was 1 minute and 33 seconds, in the year ending March 2023. This was:

  • a decrease of one second compared with the previous year (1 minute and 34 seconds)
  • a decrease of 4 seconds compared with 5 years ago (1 minute and 37 seconds)
  • a decrease of 15 seconds compared with 10 years ago (1 minute and 48 seconds)

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 1 minutes and 53 seconds in year ending March 2011 to its all time lowest time of 1 minute and 33 seconds in year ending March 2023, see Figure 2.1.

The average crew turnout time for secondary fires has followed a similar trend over the same period, see Figure 2.2.

Drive Time

The average driving time to primary fires was 6 minutes and 14 seconds, in the year ending March 2023. This was:

  • an increase of 19 seconds compared with the previous year (5 minutes and 55 seconds)
  • an increase of 37 seconds compared with 5 years ago (5 minutes and 37 seconds)
  • an increase of 1 minute 10 seconds compared with 10 years ago (5 minutes and 4 seconds)

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 time.

The average drive time to primary fires steadily increased from 5 minutes one seconds 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 recent spike in incidents due to the hot, dry summer of 2022, see Figure 2.1.

The driving time component of primary fires accounted 68%, in the year ending March 2023:

  • increasing by 0.7 compared with the previous year (67%)
  • increasing by 2.7 percentage points compared with 5 years ago (65%)
  • increasing by 4.8 percentage points compared with 10 years ago (63%)

The average drive time for secondary fires has followed a similar trend to primary fires over the same period but increased by between 10 to 30 seconds, see Figure 2.2.

Figure 2.1: Average response time (minutes) to primary fires by response time component stacked, England; year ending March 2013 to year ending March 2023

Source: FIRE1001

Figure 2.2: Average response time (minutes) to secondary fires by response time component stacked, England; year ending March 2013 to year ending March 2023

Source: FIRE1001

Response to dwelling fires has had the quickest times for all 3 of the response time components compared to all types of fires 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. primary outdoor fires, by contrast, 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).

The plateau and slight decrease in average total response time to primary fires between year ending March 2016 and year ending March 2018 (see Figure 1.1) was predominantly the result of decreases in crew turnout times in all FRA types. The decrease seen between year ending March 2019 to year ending March 2021 was predominantly due to decreases in average drive time, which fell by 3 seconds between the year ending March 2019 and 2020 and 8 seconds between the year ending March 2020 and 2021. As previously mentioned, this was likely due in part to the reduced traffic levels seen at various times throughout the COVID-19 pandemic years, as a result of government guidance related to travel and restrictions on social activity, including 3 national lockdowns.

A range of possible factors could have contributed to the general increase in average total response time to primary fires between year ending March 2011 and year ending March 2019 (see Figure 1.1). These may include changing traffic levels, ‘drive to arrive’ policies[footnote 5] and control staff typically asking more questions of the caller to better assess the risk and attendance needed. The possibility that changes to crew health and safety policies (for example, that firefighters should dress in their personal protective equipment before boarding the appliance rather than en route in a moving vehicle) could have increased response times seems unlikely as there was a sustained reduction in crew turnout times during this period.

It should be noted that it is difficult to isolate the impact of any individual factor on response times. There may well be other factors not yet mentioned, local or national, which have an effect. Other factors that are of potential relevance here include the phenomenon of urban sprawl and new housing developments affecting the strategic positioning of fire stations.

Table 2.1: Response times to primary fires by component, England; year ending March 2013 to year ending March 2023

Component of Response Time Year ending March 2023 Year ending March 2022 1-Year Change Year ending March 2018 5-Year Change Year ending March 2013 10-Year Change
Total Response Time 9m 13s 8m 50s +23s 8m 38s +35s 8m 04s +1m 9s
Call Handing Time 1m 26s 1m 21s +5s 1m 24s +2s 1m 11s +15s
Crew Turnout Time 1m 33s 1m 34s -1s 1m 37s -4s 1m 48s -15s
Drive Time 6m 14s 5m 55s +19s 5m 37s +37s 5m 04s +1m 10s

Source: FIRE1001

Table 2.2: Percentage of total response time to primary fires by component, England; year ending March 2013 to year ending March 2023

Component of Response Time Year ending March 2023 Year ending March 2022 1-Year Change Year ending March 2018 5-Year Change Year ending March 2013 10-Year Change
Call Handing Time 16% 15% 0.2pp 16% -0.7pp 15% 0.8pp
Crew Turnout Time 17% 18% -0.9pp 19% -2pp 22% -5.6pp
Drive Time 68% 67% 0.7pp 65% 2.7pp 63% 4.8pp

Source: FIRE1001

Notes:

  1. pp stands for percentage points.

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

Of the 44 fire and rescue authorities (FRAs), 13 showed an increase in average total response time to primary fires of over 30 seconds between year ending March 2022 and year ending March 2023 (average increase of 50 seconds) and 27 showed an increase of over 15 seconds (average increase of 34 seconds). Source: FIRE1001.

For primary outdoor fires, 32 FRAs showed an increase in average total response time of over 30 seconds.

FRAs can be split into 3 rural-urban classifications (predominantly rural, significantly rural and predominantly urban)[footnote 6] and by whether they are metropolitan or non-metropolitan[footnote 7].

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. The difference in average total 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 both years ending March 2022 and 2023, partly as the country’s road traffic returning to normal after the pandemic. In the year ending March 2023 the average response times increased to the longest times in all location types, likely due to the increase in incidents linked with the hot dry summer of 2022. See Figure 3.1 for further detail.

It can be seen in Table 3.1, metropolitan FRAs (these are a subset of the predominantly urban FRAs) had the quickest response times, followed by predominatly urban, followed by a larger gap between non-metropolitan, significantly rural and slowest is predominantly rural. As the FRAs gets more rural, the average response time to primary fires increases (see Figure 3.1). 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 3.2 for further detail.

Crew turnout times for predominantly rural FRAs are typically a minute to a minute and a half longer than predominantly urban FRAs in each year, likely due to the higher proportion of on-call firefighters (also referred to as ‘retained duty system firefighters’), 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 2013.

Figure 3.1: Average total response times (minutes) to primary fires by type of FRA, England; year ending March 2011 to year ending March 2023

Source: FIRE1001

Notes:

  1. Y axis is from 6 to 12 minutes.

Metropolitan

The average response time to primary fires in metropolitan FRAs was 7 minutes and 24 seconds, in the year ending March 2023. This was:

  • an increase of 15 seconds compared with the previous year (7 minutes and 9 seconds)
  • an increase of 16 seconds compared with 5 years ago (7 minutes and 8 seconds)
  • an increase of 31 seconds compared with 10 years ago (6 minutes and 53 seconds)

Metropolitan response times are the fastest of any of the location categories; however, the average response times for these FRAs also increased to the highest in the series, following the general trend.

In the year ending March 2023, the average component of response time to primary fires in metropolitan FRAs was:

  • 1 minute and 26 seconds for call handling, an increase of 6 seconds compared to the previous year
  • 59 seconds for crew turnout, virtually unchanged compared to the previous year
  • 4 minutes and 59 seconds for drive time, an increase of 9 seconds compared to the previous year

Metropolitan FRAs accounted for 38% of primary fires attended in England, with the number of incidents increasing by 2.7% to 23,189 in the year ending March 2023. Of the primary fires attended by metropolitan FRAs, 49% were dwelling fires, 21% were other building fires, 7% were primary outdoor fires and 23% were road vehicle fires.

Non-metropolitan

The average response time to primary fires in non-metropolitan FRAs was 10 minutes and 19 seconds, in the year ending March 2023. This was:

  • an increase of 26 seconds compared with the previous year (9 minutes and 53 seconds)
  • an increase of 41 seconds compared with 5 years ago (9 minutes and 38 seconds)
  • an increase of 1 minute 26 seconds compared with 10 years ago (8 minutes and 53 seconds)

In the year ending March 2023, the average component of response time to primary fires in non-metropolitan FRAs was:

  • 1 minute and 26 seconds for call handling, an increase of 4 seconds compared to the previous year
  • 1 minute and 53 seconds for crew turnout, a decrease of 3 seconds compared to the previous year
  • 7 minutes and 0 seconds for drive time, an increase of 24 seconds compared to the previous year

Non-metropolitan FRAs accounted for 62% of primary fires attended in England, with the number of incidents increasing by 6.2% to 38,010 in the year ending March 2023. Of the primary fires attended by non-metropolitan FRAs, 39% were dwelling fires, 22% were other building fires, 14% were primary outdoor fires and 25% were road vehicle fires.

Table 3.1: Response times to primary fires by type of FRA, England; year ending March 2022 to year ending March 2023

Location Category Year ending March 2023 Year ending March 2022 1-Year Change Year ending March 2018 5-Year Change Year ending March 2013 10-Year Change
England 9m 13s 8m 50s +23s 8m 38s +35s 8m 04s +1m 9s
Metropolitan 7m 24s 7m 09s +15s 7m 08s +16s 6m 53s +31s
Non-metropolitan 10m 19s 9m 53s +26s 9m 38s +41s 8m 53s +1m 26s
Predominantly Urban 7m 48s 7m 32s +16s 7m 31s +17s 7m 07s +41s
Significantly Rural 10m 29s 9m 58s +31s 9m 40s +49s 8m 45s +1m 44s
Predominantly Rural 11m 04s 10m 45s +19s 10m 17s +47s 9m 57s +1m 7s

Source: FIRE1001

Table 3.2: Component of Response times to primary fires by type of FRA, England; year ending March 2023

Location Category Call Handling Time Crew Turnout Time Drive Time
England 1m 26s 1m 33s 6m 14s
Metropolitan 1m 26s 59s 4m 59s
Non-metropolitan 1m 26s 1m 53s 7m 00s
Predominantly Urban 1m 27s 1m 03s 5m 18s
Significantly Rural 1m 31s 1m 55s 7m 04s
Predominantly Rural 1m 13s 2m 22s 7m 29s

Source: FIRE1001

4. Distribution of total response times

The previous chapters 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 20-60 minutes and more than 60 minutes) for primary and secondary fires.

Key results

In year ending March 2023:

  • the most common response time band for primary, dwelling, other building and secondary fires was 6 to 7 minutes

  • 69% of all primary fires were responded to within 10 minutes, decreasing by 2.7 percentage points compared with the previous year

  • 80% of dwelling fires were responded to within 10 minutes, were decreasing by 0.9 percentage points compared with the previous year

  • 71% of other building fires were responded to within 10 minutes, decreasing by 1.1 percentage points compared with the previous year

  • 44% of primary outdoor fires were responded to within 10 minutes, decreasing by 7.7 percentage points compared with the previous year

  • 65% of secondary fires were responded to within 10 minutes, decreasing by 4.1 percentage points compared with the previous year

For most fire types covered in this section (all primary fires dwelling, other building and secondary), the most frequent response time band was 6 to 7 minutes. 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 were responded to within 10 minutes (65%) likely due to these incidents typically being less urgent or occurring in more rural locations.

Figure 4.1: Proportion of primary fires in dwellings attended by FRSs in one-minute total response time bands, England; year ending March 2013, year ending March 2018, and year ending March 2023

Source: FIRE1004

Figure 4.2: Proportion of primary fires in other buildings attended by FRSs in one-minute total response time bands, England; year ending March 2013, year ending March 2018 and year ending March 2023

Source: FIRE1004

Figure 4.3: Proportion of outdoor primary fires attended by FRSs in one-minute total response time bands, England; year ending March 2013, year ending March 2018 and year ending March 2023

Source: FIRE1004

Figure 4.1, Figure 4.2 and Figure 4.3 show the proportional distribution of total response times by one-minute bands, until 20 minutes. Due to the small number and proportion of incidents in each one-minute band over 20-minutes, the time bands are grouped to 20-60 minutes and more than 60 minutes. Table 4.1 shows the percentage of incidents responded to in under 10 minutes.

The movement of all curves to the right and flattening but increases in the 20 to 60 minute time band in the year ending March 2023, relative to the year ending March 2013, shows the general increase in the average response time to these fire types during that period.

For dwelling fires, the curve for year ending March 2023 moves slightly to the right and flattened compared to the year ending March 2018, reflecting the increased response times. When compared to the year ending March 2013, the dwelling fires curve for year ending March 2023 moved slightly to the right, reflecting a slight increase in response times. Overall, the proportion of dwelling fires responded to in each time band has remained relatively stable over the last 5 years, and has changed the least of any fire type over the past 10 years.

For primary outdoor fires, the curve for year ending March 2023 has shifted to the right and flattened, relative to both the year ending March 2013 and 2018 curves, indicating an increase in the response time. For year ending March 2023, the proportion of primary outdoor fires responded to in over 20 minutes increased to 12%, compared to 8.9% in the previous year, a 2.7 percentage point increase. These changes in the distribution, especially in the longer time-bands, is likely to be a result of the increased number of primary outdoor fire incidents due to the hot, dry summer of 2022. Whilst this recent trend shows a strong increase, there is also an underlying long-term trend, with the proportion over 20 minutes increasing from 3.4% in year ending March 2013 to 8.9% in year ending March 2022 (prior to the hot, dry summer).

Table 4.1: Proportion of fire incidents responded to within 10 minutes by type of fire incident, England; year ending March 2022 to year ending March 2023

Type of Fire Year ending March 2023 Year ending March 2022 1-Year Change Year ending March 2018 5-Year Change Year ending March 2013 10-Year Change
Primary fires 69% 72% -2.7pp 73% -4.4pp 78% -9.4pp
Dwellings 80% 81% -0.9pp 82% -1.6pp 85% -5.2pp
Other buildings 71% 72% -1.1pp 75% -4.1pp 80% -9.3pp
Other outdoors 44% 51% -7.7pp 54% -11pp 64% -20pp
Road vehicles 61% 62% -1.2pp 64% -3.5pp 68% -7.2pp
Secondary fires 65% 69% -4.1pp 69% -4.3pp 77% -12pp

Source: FIRE1004

Notes:

  1. pp stands for percentage points.

5. 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. However, assuming that slower response times may be associated with an increase in harms, this section looks at response times in relation to casualties, rescues, and areas of damage.

Key results

In year ending March 2023:

  • the average total response time to dwelling fires involving casualties and/or rescues in England was 7 minutes and 53 seconds, an increase of 14 seconds compared with year ending March 2022 and an increase of 47 seconds since year ending March 2013

  • the average total response time to dwelling fires without casualties and/or rescues in England was 8 minutes and 1 second, an increase of 8 seconds compared with year ending March 2022 and an increase of 34 seconds since year ending March 2013

  • the average area of fire damage to dwellings (excluding those incidents with areas of damage over 5,000m2) in England increased from 14.2m2 in year ending 2022 to 15.2m2 - at the same time the average response time to dwelling fires showed an increase of 8 seconds (Source: FIRE0204 and FIRE1001)

Dwelling fires with casualties (including fatalities) and/or rescues have had consistently faster average response times than dwelling fires with no casualties and/or rescues (Figure 5.1). These comprise a relatively small number of incidents (9.5% of dwelling fires since year ending March 2010 involved casualties 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 (Figure 1.1), 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 2023, call handling was 2 seconds faster, the crew turnout time was also 5 seconds faster, and drive time was one second faster for dwelling fires with casualties and/or rescues compared with those without.

Between year ending March 2011 and year ending March 2023, average total response times generally increased, yet the average area of damage in both dwelling and ‘other building’ fires decreased; until in the year ending March 2023 the area of damage increased (Figure 5.1), (Figure 5.2). This would seem counterintuitive as it could be assumed that increased response time would have led to increased spread due to firefighter activity starting later. However, this assumption may have been countered by improved early detection (the proportion of households with a working smoke alarm has increased but remained high[footnote 8]), the gradual replacement of old furnishings with newer materials with improved fire resisting properties, new buildings with sprinkler systems and numerous other factors which are difficult to quantify.

The average area of fire damage in dwelling fires increased by 12% between the year to March 2022 and the year to March 2023 (Figure 5.1), whilst the average area of fire damage in other buildings decreased by 7.9% (Figure 5.2). The total number of dwelling fires decreased by 1.3%, primary fires increased by 5.1% and total incidents increased by 7.8%, Source: FIRE0102.

Figure 5.1: Average total response times to dwelling fires with and without casualties or rescues and average extent of damage (excluding over 5,000 m2) for dwelling fires, England; year ending March 2013 to year ending March 2023

Source: FIRE1002 and FIRE0204

Figure 5.2: Average total response time and average extent of damage (excluding over 1,000 m2) for other building fires, England; year ending March 2013 to year ending March 2023

Source: FIRE0305 and FIRE1001

6. Accidents involving FRS vehicles

The data in this section is sourced from an annual data collection on vehicle incidents. FRSs are asked to provide the number of accidents involving their vehicles in the latest year. More detail on the data collection is provided in the Further Information section.

Accidents involving FRS vehicles generally declined from around 3,750 in the year ending March 2011, when comparable data became available, to around 2,760 in the year ending March 2016. Since then, the number of accidents has fluctuated year-on-year. There was a notable decrease in the year ending March 2021 to around 2,240 accidents, likely due to the impact of COVID-19 restrictions on traffic levels and incident numbers.

In the year ending March 2023, there were 2,981 accidents involving FRS vehicles:

  • an 15% increase compared with the previous year (2,581)
  • an 8.2% increase compared with 5 years ago (2,756)
  • a 7.9% decrease compared with 10 years ago (3,235)

Of all accidents involving FRS vehicles in the year ending March 2023, 78% (2,314) were accounted for by accidents involving FRS fire appliances, 21% (618) were accounted for by FRS cars and vans and 1.6% (49) were accounted for by other FRS vehicles. These proportions are broadly similar to the previous year.

Of the accidents involving FRS fire appliances in the year ending March 2023, 46% (1,073) occurred whilst the vehicle was on blue light and 54% occurred off blue light (1,241), unchanged from the previous year.

Of the accidents involving FRS cars and vans in the year ending March 2023, 14% (85) occurred whilst the vehicle was on blue light and 86% occurred off blue light (533), compared with 8.4% (46) on blue light and 92% (501) off blue light the previous year.

To note, accidents involving other FRS vehicles may have occurred on or off blue light – this data is not available.

Figure 6.1: Total road vehicle accidents in Fire appliances on/off blue light, England; year ending March 2013 to year ending March 2023

Source: FIRE1402

Further information

This release contains statistics about 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.

This release also includes statistics about vehicle incidents involving FRS vehicles. The statistics are sourced from the Home Office’s annual operational statistics data collection. The FRSs are asked to report the number of accidents involving their vehicles, split by whether it was a fire appliance, car or van, or other, and additionally whether the vehicle was on or off blue light at the time. Shropshire did not provide information on vehicle incidents for the year ending March 2023 - these figures are left as unavailable in FIRE1402 but the previous year’s figures have been used to compile totals, such as the England total, to ensure consistency in reporting within this release.

Where this report references incident numbers it refers to incidents included in FIRE1001, not total incidents from FIRE0102. FIRE1001 has incidents excluded that took more than an hour or less then one 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 - GOV.UK. FIRE1001 does not include chimney fires, so for the remaining fires included in FIRE1001 accounted for 92% in year ending March 2023. 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, 78% of Road vehicle fires and 93% of Secondary fires.

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 [email protected] or via the user feedback form on the fire statistics collection page.

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 2023. This includes incident records that were submitted to the IRS by 25 August 2023, when a snapshot of the database was taken for the purpose of analysis. As a snapshot of the database was taken on 25 August 2023, the statistics published may not match those held locally by FRSs and revisions may occur in the future.

FIRE0305 and FIRE0204 were published along with Detailed analysis of fires attended by fire and rescue services in England, which includes incident records that were submitted to the IRS by 23 May 2023, when a snapshot of the database was taken for the purpose of analysis. Therefore, there may be a small number of differences, due to revised incident records, in the number of incidents or area of damage between the 2 data snapshots.

COVID-19 and the impact on the IRS

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

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, 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.

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 reports to the National Statistician with respect to all professional statistical matters and oversees all Home Office Statistics products with respect to the Code, being responsible for their timing, content and methodology.

  1. For the latest headline findings on average response times to fires by type of fire see Fire and rescue incident statistics: England, year ending June 2023, published 26 October 2023. ↩

  2. As was previously published on average response times to fires by type of fire see Fire and rescue incident statistics: England, year ending March 2023, published 27 July 2023 ↩

  3. 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. ↩

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

  5. ‘Drive to arrive’ policies require drivers to modify driving depending on risk, in order to reduce the number of incidents whilst mobile. ↩

  6. As defined by the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs’ 2011 Rural-Urban Classification of Local Authorities and other geographies. ↩

  7. 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. There are 14 FRAs classified as predominantly urban, 17 FRAs classified as significantly rural and 13 FRAs classified as predominantly rural. ↩

  8. See Fire prevention and protection statistics, England, April 2021 to March 2022. ↩

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