Resources warning as fire brigade calls fall

Firefighters in Cleveland were called out to scores of incidents involving stranded animals or stuck objects last year, figures reveal.

Home Office data shows 142 such calls were made to the Cleveland Fire Brigade in the year to March – 19 more than the year before.

They included 32 calls to help animals who found themselves in trouble and 110 calls to remove objects from people.

Overall, Cleveland firefighters attended 7,737 incidents in 2020-21 – including 3,763 fires – down from 8,582 the year before and prior to the coronavirus pandemic.

They included 1,199 non-fire related incidents, including flooding, freeing people trapped in lifts and road traffic accidents.

Nationally, the number of times firefighters were drafted in to help animals increased from 4,724 to 5,159 over the year.

The number of people requiring help with stuck objects also increased nationally from 5,311 to 5,632 – with two thirds of incidents involving someone needing help removing a ring, while trapped limbs accounted for 16% of calls.

The National Fire Chief's Council said a drop in the number of incidents nationally, from 558,000 to 518,000, needed to be seen in the context of the restrictions which were brought in during the pandemic.

Chairman Mark Hardingham said: “Despite the huge amount of positive and proactive work carried out nationally and locally, incidents, and sometimes very serious incidents, do still happen.

"It is of critical importance that we maintain a well-resourced fire and rescue service to respond professionally and safely to national and local emergencies."