Fire incidents down across the board

THE region’s fire service chief has praised his army of firefighters after a “downward trend” was recorded for all types of incidents in Dumfries and Galloway in the first half of last year.

Area commander Derek Heaton reported a steady improvement in statistics of various fire incidents, which he insisted is down to the “hard work and commitment” of fire crews serving the region.

Mr Heaton attended the council’s recent police, fire and rescue sub-committee, and tabled a performance report which provided a breakdown of their operations in Dumfries and Galloway between April 1 and September 30, 2025.

He told councillors: “There’s a downward trend recorded across all the KPIs (key performance indicators), which is testament to the hard work and commitment of the staff in the region.

“And where fires did occur, it’s positive to note that they once again resulted in very little damage. That’s about early intervention – the actions of staff.

“Of 29 accidental dwelling fires recorded, 17 of these had fire damage limited to the room of origin. A total of 19 had the fire damage limited to less than five square meters – again testament to early intervention and the professionalism of the staff.

“Unfortunately there were two casualties recorded, but that’s a 40 percent reduction on the same period last year.

“There were zero fire fatalities reported in this period, which is also with fire related hospitalisations down by 40 percent on the same time last year.”

The report revealed that there were 866 total incidents between April 1 and September 30, 2025. Of these, 239 were fires, 160 were non-fire incidents, and 412 were false alarms.

Firefighters rescued 37 people and, while there were no deaths from fires, there were six fatalities recorded after firefighters were called out to non-fire incidents such as road traffic collisions.

Area commander Heaton also provided an update on firefighter staffing levels, saying: “We have continued to see some retirements from our whole time stations – as a knock-on from the national firefighter pension scheme changes.

“The local absence rate is well below the national average, which is indicative of a positive workplace culture.

“Our day duty staff, which includes training and fire safety enforcement, are operating our target operating model.”

He added: “With our on-call availability, the average appliance availability is at 87 percent in the six-month reporting period – which is well above the national average.

“I’d like to acknowledge the staff who deliver all these things because without their commitment, dedication, this high level of performance would not be possible.”