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Impact Report - Every Contact Counts

Every Contact Counts Impact Report 2022 2023

Each year, East Sussex Fire and Rescue Service meets thousands of people, whether through our work to prevent emergencies, to protect buildings through fire safety work or when we respond to 999 calls.

For us Every Contact Counts - and that’s not just contact with the public, but with our own colleagues, volunteers and cadets.

Impact Report 2022-23

Our Impact Report shines the light on how our approach has affected peoples lives.

Of note:

  • 10,440 incidents attended – a reduction from the previous year of 10,562.
  • 412 accidental dwelling fires – a reduction from the previous year of 433.
  • 90% of accidental dwelling fires were confined to the room of origin.

The number of primary fires has increased from 967 to 1012, and the number of deliberate fires from 664 to 724 – these are areas we are now focusing on.

Preventing emergencies – Home Safety Visits

We visit people in their homes to offer advice, support and equipment including specialist smoke alarms.

In 2022/23 we visited 10,483 properties. 93% of these home safety visits were to vulnerable people within our community.

We are also part of the Homes for Ukraine scheme, visiting prospective hosts and properties, offering fire safety advice and checking smoke alarms

Protecting buildings – fire safety engagement, training and enforcement

The new Fire Safety (England) Regulations came into force on 23 January 2023 to meet the Grenfell Tower Inquiry’s Phase 1 recommendations.

The Inquiry was established following the devastating Grenfell Tower Fire in 2017.

The service worked hard to make sure that the local community knew about its responsibilities through engagement and communication.

It also continued its work on inspections, checks and prosecutions.

  • Number of inspections of high-risk premises - 506
  • Number of fire safety checks by operational crews – 1,523
  • More than a thousand people attended 108 business safety engagements.

Attendance standards

Whenever you call us in an emergency, your call comes into our Joint Fire Control, which then mobilises the nearest or most appropriate fire appliance, along with any other specialist vehicles/officers depending upon the problem.

Our response standards are as follows: 

The first arriving appliances at any incident from an 'On-Station response' within 10 minutes 70% of the time

The first arriving appliances at any incident from an 'On-Call response' within 15 minutes 70% of the time

We have exceeded our targets when it comes to arriving at incidents promptly.

• 77.6% of the first arriving appliances at any incident from an ‘On-Station response’ within 10 minutes.

• 73.5% of the first arriving appliances at any incident from an ‘On-Call response’ within 15 minutes

Read the full 2022-23 report

Impact Report 2021-22

Read our previous report.

Impact Report