Record number of rescues for NIFRS
Northern Ireland saw the biggest increase in the UK for rescue operations carried out by firefighters
Firefighters in Northern Ireland rescued a record 32 people every week last year.
That's a 12% on the previous 12 months.
Almost 1,700 were carried out by firefighters berween April 2017 and March 2018 - that's 141 life-saving operations every month.
Of those callouts only 176 actually involved rescuing someone from a fire.
The remaining 1,500 or so were other types of incidents like flooding, chemical spills, road crashes, and broken lifts.
The Fire Brigades Union says the fact that nearly 10 times more people were rescued from incidents that didn't involve fires, than those that did shows how its members' role has vastly expanded.
Jim Quinn, FBU Northern Ireland Executive Council member, said: “Firefighters are rescuing more people year on year, with non-fire incidents nearly outnumbering fire rescues tenfold. These figures show that need for firefighters in all their roles is increasing and reveal the immense value of their lifesaving work.”
The data also shows Northern Ireland had the biggest increase in rescues of all the regions in the UK.