Fire and rescue incident statistics: April 2022 to March 2023

The analysis in this bulletin relates to fire and rescue service incidents between April 2022 and end March 2023, whilst making comparisons with April 2021 to March 2022, a period largely effected by the coronavirus (COVID-19) pandemic, and therefore the public health restrictions that were in place during the course of the pandemic. Whilst restrictions were eased during 2021-22 there were some periods during the year when restrictions remained in place and patterns of behaviour may not have returned to that occurring prior to the pandemic.

Main points

Fires

• In 2022-23 the number of fires attended by Welsh Fire and Rescue Authorities increased by 3% compared with the previous year. Since 2001-02 there has been a downward trend in the number of fires attended; the 2022-23 figure is 69% lower than in 2001-02.
• The number of primary fires in Wales decreased by 1% over the year from 3,944 in 2021-22 to 3,918 in 2022-23. Primary fires include all fires in non-derelict buildings and vehicles or in outdoor structures, or any fire involving casualties or rescues, or fires attended by five or more appliances. 
• In 2022-23 the number of secondary fires rose by 6% compared with 2021-22.
• The number of deliberate grassland, woodland and crop fires fell by 1% compared with 2021-22.

Casualties

• There were 14 fatal casualties from fires in Wales in 2022-23, 7 fewer than in 2021-22.
• The number of non-fatal casualties was 422 in 2022-23, a decrease of 12% compared with 2021-22.

False alarms

• In 2022-23 there were 16,008 fire false alarms in Wales, up from 15,319 in 2021-22, an increase of 4%.
• The number of malicious fire false alarms rose by 17% compared with 2021-22. 

SSIs

• Fire and Rescue Authorities in Wales attended 10,353 SSIs (including false alarms) in 2022-23, a 19% increase on 2021-22.

Smoke alarms

• In around 3 in 10 dwelling fires in Wales in 2022-23, no smoke alarm was installed. 

Cause of fires

• In 2022-23 the largest single cause of accidental dwelling fires was misuse of equipment or appliances, equating to 32% of these fires. This has consistently been the main cause of accidental dwelling fires since 2001-02.

Response times

• In 2022-23, 58% of primary fires and 67% of dwelling fires in Wales were attended within 10 minutes.