Cumbria Fire and Rescue Service attended more than 700 incidents throughout the county during the first eight weeks of lockdown – up over 10% on the same period on average for the past five years.
Just over half of all the emergency call-outs in Cumbria during this period involved fires, including fires in people’s homes, business premises, other property and wildfires.
Figures released today by Cumbria Fire and Rescue Service show firefighters were called out to a total of 363 fires in Cumbria between w/c 23 March and w/c 10 May 2020, up by nearly 100 compared to the five-year average.
The incidents included a 16% rise in dwelling fires and a 10% increase in primary fires – these include all fires in buildings, vehicles and outdoor structures.
Craig Drinkald, Area Manager, Community Safety, for Cumbria Fire and Rescue, said: “These statistics confirm that our firefighters have been responding to a lot more incidents, especially fires in people’s homes and property over recent weeks. While lockdown restrictions are starting to be eased, many people are still spending more time than normal at home. The increasing number of incidents should serve as a warning for people to be vigilant about fire safety. We would encourage everyone to stay safe by taking simple precautions such as never leaving cooking in the kitchen unattended, unplugging electrical appliances when not in use and making sure they have working smoke alarms in their homes.”
The latest figures show a significant improvement in response times to primary fires and other emergency incidents by Cumbria Fire and Rescue Service.
Firefighters were able to respond to incidents sooner than the normal during lockdown because of an increase in fire appliance availability. Our on call crews were available for longer periods of time and there was less traffic and congestion on the county’s roads.
