Fire and rescue incident statistics

Year ending March 2026

Fire and Rescue Statistics: Key Highlights

The latest government statistics provide an insight into the work carried out by Fire and Rescue Services across England and highlight the continuing importance of fire prevention and protection.

Key Results

Fire and Rescue Services attended over 641,000 incidents in England during the year ending March 2026 – up 5.8% on the previous year. Fire incidents increased even more dramatically, rising 19% to over 170,000 fires attended.

Fire-related fatalities fell slightly in the year ending March 2026, with 254 deaths recorded across 239 fatal fires, compared with 280 fatalities in 255 fatal fires the previous year.

Incident Summary

Fire and Rescue Services attended 641,227 incidents in the year ending March 2026, a 5.8% increase on the previous year and more than 20% higher than both five and ten years ago. Fires accounted for 27% of all incidents, while fire false alarms made up 40% and non-fire incidents 34%, reflecting a continuing shift towards a broader range of emergency responses.

Fires Attended

Fire incidents increased significantly in the year ending March 2026, with Fire and Rescue Services attending 170,597 fires—a 19% rise compared with the previous year.

Primary fires increased by 7.3%, while secondary fires saw a much larger increase of 30%. Outdoor primary fires rose sharply by 48%, and fires in purpose-built high-rise flats and maisonettes also increased slightly by 4%, highlighting growing fire risks across a range of environments.

Primary Fires:

Primary fires, which pose the greatest threat to life and property, have fallen significantly since their peak in 2002, although they continue to fluctuate year on year.

In the year ending March 2026, primary fires accounted for 39% of all fires. Fire and Rescue Services attended 39,859 building fires, a slight increase on the previous year but 16% fewer than a decade ago, continuing the long-term decline in building fires.

False Alarms

Fire false alarms continued to increase in the year ending March 2026, with Fire and Rescue Services attending 255,047 incidents.

This represents a 1.6% rise compared with the previous year and an increase of around 19% over the past decade, highlighting the ongoing demand that false alarms place on emergency services.

Most fire false alarms were caused by automatic fire alarm systems (apparatus), although these decreased slightly compared with the previous year. In contrast, false alarms due to good intent increased by 13%, while malicious false alarms fell slightly. Overall, the figures show that unwanted fire alarm activations remain the largest source of false callouts for Fire and Rescue Services.

Non-fire incidents attended

Fire and Rescue Services attended a record 215,583 non-fire incidents in the year ending March 2026—the highest annual total since consistent records began. This was a 1.7% increase on the previous year and more than 40% higher than both five and ten years ago, highlighting the growing demand for Fire and Rescue Services beyond traditional fire emergencies.

Collaboration incidents:

Collaboration incidents have more than tripled over the past decade, rising from 21,146 in 2015 to 75,060 in the year ending March 2026. They now account for 35% of all non-fire incidents, with 'effecting entry or exit' remaining the most common type. The increase reflects the growing role of Fire and Rescue Services in supporting other emergency services and responding to a wider range of incidents.

Medical incidents:

Medical incidents continued to decline in the year ending March 2026, with Fire and Rescue Services attending 10,602 incidents. After peaking during Emergency Medical Responding (EMR) trials in 2017, medical incidents now account for just 4.9% of all non-fire incidents, reflecting a continued reduction in this type of response.

Road traffic collisions:

Road traffic collision (RTC) incidents have returned to pre-pandemic levels, with Fire and Rescue Services attending 32,713 RTCs in the year ending March 2026. Road traffic collisions accounted for 15% of all non-fire incidents, a proportion that has remained broadly stable over the past decade, aside from the temporary decline during the COVID-19 pandemic.

Flooding and water rescue incidents:

Flooding and water rescue incidents remain higher than a decade ago, with Fire and Rescue Services attending 17,502 incidents in the year ending March 2026. The majority of these were flooding-related callouts, highlighting the growing demand on Fire and Rescue Services to respond to flooding and other water-related emergencies.

No action, false alarm and remaining incidents:

Other non-fire incidents have also increased over the past decade. 'No action/advice' callouts have more than doubled, non-fire false alarms have risen by 78%, and other incident types have increased by 35%. Lift releases were the most common incident in this category, with 13,760 attended in the year ending March 2026.

Fire-related fatalities and casualties

Fire-related fatalities decreased in the year ending March 2026, with 254 deaths recorded—a 9.3% reduction compared with the previous year. Fatalities in dwelling fires also fell by 14%. However, non-fatal casualties increased to 6,848, including almost 3,000 people requiring hospital treatment, highlighting the ongoing impact of fire incidents despite the reduction in deaths.

Fire-related fatalities:

Fire-related fatalities have fallen significantly since the early 1980s, although numbers have fluctuated over the past decade. In the year ending March 2026, there were 254 fire-related deaths from 239 fatal fires, with dwelling fires accounting for 72% of all fatalities. While fatal fires remain relatively rare—occurring in just 0.36% of primary fires—these figures highlight the continued importance of effective fire prevention and protection measures.

Fatalities in high-rise flats and maisonettes:

Fire and Rescue Services attended 695 fires in purpose-built high-rise flats and maisonettes in the year ending March 2026, a slight increase on the previous year but lower than five and ten years ago. Over the past five years, these incidents resulted in 10 fire-related fatalities, a significant reduction compared with the previous five-year period, which included the Grenfell Tower fire.

Non-fatal casualties:

Although non-fatal fire casualties have generally declined since the mid-1990s, they increased in the year ending March 2026 to 6,848—a 6.2% rise compared with the previous year. Increases were recorded across all categories of injury, including severe and slight hospital casualties, first aid treatments and precautionary checks.

Response times to fire incidents

Fire and Rescue Services took slightly longer to respond to fires in the year ending March 2026. The average response time to primary fires increased to 9 minutes 25 seconds, while secondary fires averaged 9 minutes 58 seconds—both slightly higher than the previous year.

The average response time to primary fires was 9 minutes and 25 seconds

The average response time to dwelling fires was 8 minutes and 15 seconds

The average response time to other outdoor fires was 12 minutes and 10 secondsThe average response time to secondary fires was 9 minutes and 58 seconds