Following the government’s release of the latest fire and rescue incident statistics (year ending September 2025) CheckFire’s product manager, Joshua Marshall highlights a concerning increase in fire false alarms, particularly those due to apparatus in error:
“The latest fire and rescue incident statistics, for the year ending September 2025, highlight some important pressures facing the fire safety industry, particularly around fire false alarms and building fire risk. While it is encouraging to see a slight year-on-year reduction overall, the longer-term trend is moving firmly in the opposite direction – with fire false alarm incidents found to be 19% higher than a decade ago and remaining close to historic highs.
“Particularly concerning is the continued dominance of fire false alarms caused due to apparatus in error – with 169,717 such incidents attended by fire and rescue services in the year ending September 2025. These account for around two-thirds of all false alarm call-outs.
“Despite a welcome 7.4% decrease compared with last year, apparatus-related false alarms remain more than 20% higher than a decade ago. This underscores the critical importance of inspection, testing, and maintenance regimes, as well as ensuring fire safety products are correctly designed and commissioned, and remain fit for purpose throughout their lifecycle.
“The data also shows a sharp year-on-year increase of 17% in fire false alarms with ‘good intent’, alongside a rise in primary (9.5%) and building (5.1%) fires attended by fire and rescue services, compared with the previous year. Together, these trends reinforce the need for reliability and readiness in fire alarms, as well as fire extinguishers and fire doors . Well-maintained alarms help reduce unnecessary activations, while regularly inspected and correctly specified fire extinguishers remain a vital first line of defence in the event fires do occur.
“For CheckFire, these statistics serve as a clear reminder to all that fire safety compliance is never a one-off exercise. Ongoing maintenance, routine inspection, and informed management are essential to supporting fire and rescue services. We remain committed to helping responsible persons and duty holders ensure crucial fire detection and protection equipment performs as intended when it is needed the most.”
