This section summarises the number of incidents attended by FRSs in England involving an attack on firefighters. The statistics are sourced from the Home Office’s Incident Recording System (IRS)[footnote 14]. Key results During the financial year 2021 to 2022:
there were 983 incidents involving an attack on firefighters, an increase of five per cent (or an increase of 49 incidents) on the previous year
these incidents resulted in 60 injuries to firefighters, of which 54 were classed as slight and six as serious (requiring a hospital stay)
the majority of incidents involving an attack involved verbal abuse (60 per cent, 590 incidents)
It should be noted that the IRS does not provide a complete picture of attacks on firefighters, as it only covers incidents attended by firefighters through an emergency call. It does not cover attacks occurring on training or routine activities. In addition, it provides a count of the number of incidents that involved an attack not the number of attacks, as more than one firefighter could have been attacked at one incident. The IRS only allows one option of type of attack to be coded and FRSs record the one that best describes it, so there may be an undercount of some types of attacks, and it may be possible for verbal attacks to include an injury and vice versa. Figure 4.1: Attacks on firefighters, England; financial year 2010 to 2011 to financial year 2021 to 2022 Source: FIRE0510 In 2021 to 2022, 60 per cent of incidents involving an attack involved verbal abuse (590 incidents) and 25 per cent (247 incidents) involved objects being thrown at firefighters and/or appliances. The remaining incidents involved physical abuse (six per cent, 55 incidents), harassment (two per cent, 24 incidents) and other acts of aggression (seven per cent, 67 incidents). These proportions were similar to those in previous years. In financial year 2021 to 2022, there were 60 injuries in total from the 983 incidents that involved an attack on a firefighter, similar to the previous year (61). Of these 60 injuries, 54 were classed as slight and six were classed as serious, similar to last year (56 slight, 5 serious). Since data became available in 2010 to 2011 the proportion of attacks on firefighters that have resulted in at least one injury has fluctuated between 3.2 per cent and 9.1 per cent. In 2021 to 2022 the proportion was 6.1 per cent, down from 6.5 per cent in the previous year and 7.8 per cent five years ago. Figure 4.2: Percentage of attacks on firefighters that resulted in at least one injury, England, financial year 2010 to 2011 to financial year 2021 to 2022 Further information on attacks on firefighter can be found in fire data table FIRE0510.