Fire Crew Availability Rises As Recruitment Outpaces Leavers In North Yorkshire

Fire engine response availability is improving across North Yorkshire after the fire and rescue service saw more people joining the ranks than leaving for the first time in years.

Fire engine availability is improving across North Yorkshire as recruitment numbers outpace staff departures for the first time in several years.

Overall operational readiness has climbed steadily, with fire and rescue crews reporting higher monthly availability since January compared to the previous twelve months. The boost in frontline cover follows a concerted effort to bring in fresh recruits and upskill existing personnel during what has been acknowledged as a challenging period for the emergency service.

Whole-time fire cover availability increased to ninety-nine per cent in the first quarter of this year, up from ninety-eight per cent during the same period last year. Meanwhile, on-call firefighter availability experienced a two per cent rise, pushing the overall force availability up from sixty-seven per cent to seventy per cent.

Despite the positive upward trend in staffing and availability, fire chiefs remain focused on driving further improvements across the region.

Area Manager and Director of Operational Support and Assurance, Ben Illsley, expressed his gratitude to all the firefighters and support staff who have assisted the service through recent difficult times and listed some more positives:

"Call structure, getting more recruits in, more recruits of course, upskilling them, getting some competence, training your drivers and etc that we are seeing, hopefully, fruits of that labour continuing now. Our overall availability since January this year has been higher every month now, versus the previous year. So we are still pushing for further improvement in this area. But in quarter one, our whole time availability went up from 98 the previous year to 99% this year. We've seen a 2% increase in our on call availability. I'll make the point we are still driving for further improvement in that. We certainly do want to increase that figure. And the overall availability has gone up in quarter one from 67% to 70%. But we still, to be clear, we'd like to see that improve further."

Staffing levels within the fire and rescue service have seen a notable and positive shift this year. The influx of new recruits has finally overtaken the number of personnel leaving the force, breaking a long-standing trend of retention struggles within the county.

This turnaround is being supported by targeted investments at local fire stations. Upgrades have included new gym equipment and enhanced support systems specifically designed for on-call teams. District managers have been working tirelessly to maintain this momentum and manage the natural turnover of staff, which often includes personnel taking career breaks or relocating outside of the service's footprint area.

The dedication of on-call teams remains a crucial component of the region's emergency response network, providing essential cover to local communities.

Ben added:

"Last year was the first year in quite a long time in North Yorkshire that more people joined than left. So, as well as having fuller, more complete recruit courses, there will always be a significant churn of on-call firefighters, people requiring career breaks or to leave to do other things when they move out the footprint area, but last year was the first year in in some while in North Yorkshire, more people joined the duty system than left. So, it will be a panel challenge, a lot of work goes into that. All our district managers work tirelessly. There's been investment in things like gym equipment, on-call stations and additional support as well. Just want to make the point. We're really grateful to our on-call firefighters, the commitment they give is fantastic to their local communities."