Union calls for investment in fire service
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Across England, fire and rescue services attended more than 199,000 non-fire incidents in the year to March 2023 – a 2.3% increase from the year before.
However, fatalities at these incidents rose by 17% overall, which the Fire Brigades Union said was caused by a decade of cuts and more firefighters leaving their jobs.
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Home Office figures show the Northumberland Fire and Rescue Service reported 23 deaths in non-fire incidents they attended last year – in line with 2021-22.
One of the main drivers of the overall surge in deaths was a 52% increase in the number of deaths in medical incidents. There were 624 recorded in 2022-23, with one in Northumberland.
Matt Wrack, Fire Brigades Union general secretary, said: “We have suffered more than a decade of cuts, with one in five firefighter jobs lost since 2010. The result is that response times are now worse than ever before.
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Hide Ad“To reverse this trend, we urgently need investment from central Government.”
In the areas covered by the Northumberland Fire and Rescue Service there were 846 non-fire incidents attended – an 8% decrease from the year before.
Of these, 198 were road traffic collisions, 57 were flooding or rescue from water, and 16 were medical incidents.
A Home Office spokesperson said: “The Government is committed to ensuring fire services have the resources they need to do their important work and to keep the public safe.”