North Yorkshire Fire and Rescue Service has recorded an eight per cent reduction in dwelling fires over the last two years, driven by a significant increase in community prevention work.
North Yorkshire Fire and Rescue Service has recorded an eight per cent fall in the number of dwelling fires over a two-year period, despite facing an overall increase in incident demand across the region.
The latest Annual Performance Report, covering the period from the first of April 2025 to the thirty-first of March 2026, highlights that fires in the home have decreased from 251 in 2023/24 to 231 in the most recent financial year.
This positive outcome has been attributed to a significant boost in prevention work. The service set an ambitious target of completing 5,500 Home Fire Safety Visits over the year. They exceeded this goal by completing 6,353 visits, representing a forty-two per cent increase compared to the previous year.
Ben Illsley, Area Manager and Director of Operational Support and Assurance at North Yorkshire Fire and Rescue Service, said:
"We want to see fires prevented, responses are a very valuable commodity as a fire and rescue service, but if we can prevent fires, that's what we want to be able to do. So really pleasing to see an 8% reduction number of dwelling fires. Despite having a reduction, whether climate change or other factors, we are seeing an increase in the demand of our response services, year by year, over the last two years, which culminates in a significant increase in the number of appliance deployments that we've seen over the last year. So it went from 10,500 region the previous year, to 11,900 appliance deployments. So as well as being much more productive, it makes it all the more noteworthy the improvements in prevention activity, from our crews, because they are being deployed to more incidents and spending more time at incidents as well."
The performance report outlines that the overall count of incidents attended increased by eight per cent to 8,408. This included 3,597 false alarms and 2,775 special service incidents. The busiest quarter was between July and September, peaking at 848 incidents in July alone, with small fires in the open being the most common incident type during that period.
Crews also managed significant events such as the Fylingdales wildfire incident, where dynamic cover tools were successfully used to manage fire cover and ensure public safety.
Discussing the reduction in house fires and the impact of the service's prevention strategy, Mr Illsley said:
"So a dwelling fire is a fire in a home where somebody lives. We had 251 dwelling fires in North Yorkshire and the city of York this year and the previous year, that's come down to a level around 230. So an 8% reduction. So it's not that we're having more outputs of activity in people's homes, it's showing that there is an outcome. So last year, the reduction around 20, you have to treat kind of year by year stats with an element of caution, but now it's remained at that level for a further year, we're confident that there's causation in the work that we're doing, to make sure that it's not just outputs we're improving, but outcomes as well. Despite seeing upward trends in other incident demands, we are having less fires in people's homes, which is really positive to see."
To support this increased demand, the service has bolstered its frontline staff. Thirty whole-time firefighters started their roles in late December 2025 and early January 2026. Furthermore, on-call recruitment remains positive, with thirty-five new starters completing their safe to ride courses during the reporting period.
The fire service covers one of the largest geographical areas for a predominantly rural service in the country, spanning 3,200 square miles. Despite the challenges this presents, the average response time for dwelling fires was recorded at ten minutes and fifty-two seconds, successfully meeting the service's eleven-minute standard.
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