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Humberside Fire and Rescue Service

Covers Hull, the East Riding of Yorkshire, North Lincolnshire and North East Lincolnshire.

Official figures

April 2025 to March 2026

9 min 36 sec
average time to reach a serious fire
England: 9 min 25 sec● About the same as EnglandA year earlier: 9 min 28 sec. ● About the same now
8 min 0 sec
average time to reach a house or flat fire
England: 8 min 15 sec● About the same as EnglandA year earlier: 7 min 50 sec. ● About the same now
1 min 46 sec
for the crew to get moving once alerted
England: 1 min 33 sec▼ Worse than EnglandA year earlier: 1 min 40 sec. ▼ Worse now

The clock runs from the moment the 999 call is answered by the fire service to the first fire engine arriving. "Serious fires" are what the statistics call primary fires: those in buildings and vehicles, or involving casualties or five or more engines. 1,186 were counted this year.

Official figures

Where the time goes

Serious firesHumbersideEnglandSimilar areas
Handling the 999 call 1 min 23 sec 1 min 26 sec 1 min 28 sec
Crew getting moving 1 min 46 sec 1 min 33 sec 1 min 58 sec
Driving to the fire 6 min 27 sec 6 min 25 sec 7 min 21 sec
Total 9 min 36 sec 9 min 25 sec 10 min 48 sec

Red: worse than England. Green: better than England. Black: about the same as England. A figure within 5% of England counts as about the same. "Similar areas" is the average for fire services classed as intermediate urban areas, the same as this one. Rural services take longer because of distance, so this is the fairer comparison.

Official figures

By kind of fire

Kind of fireFiresAverage responseEnglandSimilar areas
House and flat fires453 8 min 0 sec 8 min 15 sec 9 min 20 sec
Fires in other buildings, such as shops, offices and care homes291 9 min 52 sec 9 min 12 sec 10 min 40 sec
Vehicle fires308 10 min 37 sec 10 min 19 sec 11 min 48 sec
Serious outdoor fires134 12 min 4 sec 12 min 10 sec 13 min 3 sec
Smaller outdoor fires, such as bins and grass2,271 9 min 29 sec 9 min 58 sec 11 min 7 sec
Official figures

Year by year

YearSerious firesAverage responseEngland
April 2025 to March 20261,186 9 min 36 sec 9 min 25 sec
April 2024 to March 20251,053 9 min 28 sec 9 min 6 sec
April 2023 to March 20241,029 9 min 12 sec 9 min 3 sec
April 2022 to March 20231,152 9 min 45 sec 9 min 13 sec
April 2021 to March 20221,048 9 min 11 sec 8 min 50 sec
April 2020 to March 20211,012 8 min 37 sec 8 min 35 sec

Reading these figures fairly

  • There is no national standard. Each fire service sets its own response targets, so figures are coloured against England only.
  • Distance matters. A service covering villages and farmland will always be slower than one covering a city. Humberside covers both.
  • Averages hide the longest waits. These figures do not show how long the slowest responses took.
  • Fires only. Road crashes, floods and rescues, which are a large part of the work, are not in these response figures.