Fire brigade response times worsen with just over half of incidents attended within 10 minutes

The response time of fire brigades to callouts worsened last year with fire officers on the scene within 10 minutes of an alarm being raised in just over half of all incidents.

New figures reveal it also took over 20 minutes for fire brigades to reach the location of a fire in one in 10 cases in 2022.

The figures, which are published by the National Oversight and Audit Commission, show the proportion of incidents in which the first attendance at the scene of a fire was within 10 minutes in 2022 was 52.7 per cent – down from 56.2 per cent the previous year.

It is the lowest rate since official figures were first compiled in 2014.

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The commission, which monitors the performance of the country’s local authorities across a range of services, said the attendance rates within 10 minutes of being notified of emergencies about fires had been “on a downward trajectory for a number of years”.

The latest figures also highlight how the percentage of fires where it took longer than 20 minutes for fire tenders to arrive increased last year. Fire brigades took over 20 minutes to reach the location of the fire in 9.8 per cent of callouts in 2022 compared to 7.6 per cent in 2021.

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The commission said the rate of increase over the space of 12 months in callouts taking over 20 minutes to attend the scene was “significant.”

It is the second-highest level in almost a decade, with the rate peaking in 2018 at 10.5 per cent.

A total of 22 out of 27 local authorities which operate fire services recorded an increase in the proportion of fires taking over 20 minutes to reach last year.

Roscommon County Council has the worst record with 29.0 per cent of fires taking over 20 minutes to reach compared to 20.5 per cent in 2021.

Galway County Council, which also operates fire services for Galway City Council, had the second-highest at 28.8 per cent – almost double the previous year’s rate.

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Other local authorities with a large percentage of fires taking over 20 minutes to reach last year were Cork County (24.2 per cent); Wexford (22.7 per cent); Kerry (22.4 per cent); and Mayo (21.9 per cent).

In contrast, fire brigades in Cork City Council had the lowest proportion of fires taking over 20 minutes to reach at 0.9 per cent.

Dublin City Council which operates fire services for the other three local authorities in the capital, had the second-lowest rate at 2.9 per cent ahead of Louth at 5.0 per cent.

Limerick City and County Council recorded the biggest decrease in quick response times with arrivals on the scene within 10 minutes down from 81.4 per cent in 2021 to 66.4 per cent last year.

The audit commission acknowledged that average mobilisation times can be affected by various factors including the time of day, traffic, remoteness from the nearest fire station and the quality of information received.