Official Statistics containing detailed analysis of response times to fires attended by fire and rescue services: England, April 2021 to March 2022 have revealed that fire response times have increased by 15 seconds.

According to the statistics, the average response time to primary fires in the year ending March 2022 was 8 minutes and 50 seconds: an increase of 15 seconds compared with the year ending March 2021. The largest component was drive time which increased by 17 seconds to 5 minutes 55 seconds.

All primary fire types showed an increase in average response times – dwellings by 16 seconds, other buildings by 13 seconds, road vehicles by 21 seconds and outdoor primary fires (by far the smallest category of primary fire) by 9 seconds

The average total response time to secondary fires (which can broadly be thought of as smaller outdoor fires, not involving people or property) in England decreased by 10 seconds, compared with the year ending March 2021, to 9 minutes and 13 seconds

Overall, response times to fires increased gradually between the year ending March 1995 and year ending March 2015. There was then a plateau at around 8 minutes and 40 seconds from the year ending March 2015 to the year ending March 2018. Every year since response times have increased except from the year ending March 2021, where drive times decreased probably due to decreased traffic levels due to COVID-19 lockdowns.

The average total response time to primary fires in year ending March 2022 was 8 minutes and 50 seconds, an increase of 47 seconds over the past decade, and an increase of 12 seconds in the past 5 years – the pattern across different types of fire was varied