Hampshire’s fire service is “going in the right direction”
New data reveals critical response times remain stable
Last updated 26th Jun 2024
Hampshire’s fire service is “going in the right direction” after new data revealed critical response times remain stable at an average of seven minutes and 42 seconds and
The calls were related to dangerous situations involving people or buildings, such as fires or crashes.
Hampshire and Isle of Wight Fire and Rescue Authority’s annual performance report was presented on Monday (June 24), and councillors praised the overall results of the service to the community.
The report said there were 20,333 incidents in 2023/24, a three per cent fall from 2022/23 and six per cent lower than in 2019/20.
This is because there was a 26 per cent drop in fires, driven mainly by the large volume of outdoor fires in 2022 during the summer heat waves, which did not occur in 2023/24. Fires in homes also fell from 997 to 793.
The ‘average critical response time’ between April 2023 and March 2024 was seven minutes and 42 seconds, which remained stable (+1 second) compared to last year and has increased compared to the much lower response times during the pandemic when on-call availability was higher.
For ‘primary fire’ response times, the report said the service performs better than similar services, with an average response time of eight minutes and 23 seconds.
However, despite the efforts, in 2023/24, four fire fatalities, all males, occurred, which are still currently awaiting the coroner’s investigations to confirm whether the fire was the cause of death.
The number of casualties also fell compared to the previous year. In 2023/24, 82 casualties were recorded, of which 13 per cent were severe casualties, and 45 per cent were slight injuries where the victim went to the hospital.
Average on-call availability has slightly increased in 2023/23, with 61 per cent availability.
The fire service education team also worked with 34,845 pupils across 618 schools in Hampshire and the Isle of Wight since April 2023, promoting a ‘risk-based’ education framework.
County councillor David Harrison was pleased with the fire service performance and said that the authority “is going in the right direction”.
Cllr Harrison said: “Our decision many years ago to put more resources into preventative work is beginning to pay off.
“We see a significant reduction in fires and other incidents as a consequence of a lot of work that goes on behind the scenes, which perhaps doesn’t attract so much media attention, but I think to stop things happening in the first place is very much what the service is all about.
“Although we cannot be complacent. There are some areas which inspectors that visit us tell us we need to improve upon, overall is a good pleasing report and tells me that we are going in the right direction.”