Fewer people died in non-fire emergencies in Nottinghamshire last year

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.

Firefighters routinely attend a range of emergencies other than fires, such as flooding, traffic collisions or assisting other emergency services with medical issues.

Home Office figures show the Nottinghamshire Fire and Rescue Service reported 64 deaths in non-fire incidents they attended last year – down from 79 in 2021-22.

There were 3,875 deaths across the country, equivalent to 20 per 1,000 non-fire incidents attended.

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 three in Nottinghamshire.

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.

“But we are also well aware that firefighters are increasingly responding to emergencies without the correct resources and fire engines.

“To reverse this trend, we urgently need investment from central government.”

In the areas covered by the Nottinghamshire Fire and Rescue Service there were 2,706 non-fire incidents attended – a 4.3% increase from the year before.

Of these, 587 were road traffic collisions, 85 were flooding or rescue from water, and 93 were medical incidents.

A spokesperson for the National Fire Chiefs Council said: “It is always incredibly sad to see loss of life at incidents that our fire and rescue service colleagues have attended.

“We know that it has a profound impact on the local community and the fire and rescue service.”

A Home Office spokesperson said the government is committed to ensuring fire services have the resources they need and that in 2023-24, fire and rescue authorities will receive around £2.6 billion funding.