Warwickshire fire chiefs admit that number of incidents has soared in the county since the lifting of lockdown

Fire chiefs admit that the lifting of Covid restrictions has seen the number of certain incidents soar.

The annual performance report from Warwickshire Fire and Rescue Service (WFRS) was considered at this week’s meeting of the county council’s resources and fire & rescue overview and scrutiny committee.

The document outlined performance for the 12 months to the end of March, highlighting how certain areas had been directly affected by the lockdowns.

It explained: “Several incident types usually attended by firefighters have seen significant increases with the removal of local and national restrictions since Spring 2021, which has impacted the figures for 2021/22. Of note, there have been increases in the number of fire-related deaths and injuries, accidental dwelling fires and attended road traffic collisions, with some areas seeing increases of more than 50 per cent.

“Community prevention activity has also been directly affected during the pandemic, where firefighters have not been able to engage with the public as they usually would. Teams have been quick to respond and adapt to new ways of working, including conducting online ‘safe and well’ checks to ensure people remain safe in their homes. Teams have also assisted with prescription drops, welfare calls and food parcel coordination when needed.

“As a result of Covid restrictions being lifted, there was a 232% increase in the checks from 2020/21 to 2021/22.”

The report also explained how there had been a slight drop in demand for the Hospital to Home scheme which sees staff take patients back to their homes when discharged from hospital.

It added: “Levels increased significantly during the pandemic but demand has reduced slightly over the past 12 months.

“The scheme has helped to reduce the number of patients who have previously had to be admitted to hospital because they had no immediate friends or family to help them get home. By enabling hospitals to maximise capacity, the scheme also helps free up ambulances to respond to incidents.

“Those delivering the service are not on duty and are scheduled on a self-rostering basis.”

Also on the increase was the number of injuries sustained by firefighters with 20 recorded over the 12 months, five more than in the previous year.