Fire service logs nearly 130 accidents in a year

0West Yorkshire Fire & Rescue Service reported 128 accidents between April 2025 and March 2026Firefighters tripping while responding to moorland blazes and being hit by falling equipment are among the workplace accidents recorded by West Yorkshire Fire & Rescue Service (WYFRS).

These incidents cost the service more than £160,000 in the year from April 2025 to March 2026, according to a report discussed by West Yorkshire Fire Authority on Friday.

It revealed there were 128 accidents in the period, a 6% rise compared to the previous year. But the figure was a stark contrast to the 300 recorded in 2005/06.

Mark Dixon, head of occupational health at the service, hailed the longer-term improvement, adding: "There are good news stories in this report."

He said: "In some cases there are things we can do to try and reduce accidents.

"In other cases there isn't much we can do to reduce risks other than continue to train staff."

The report to the authority's People and Culture Committee detailed a range of incidents, which cost the authority £160,281 and led to a loss of 588 days of work.

It said £87,192 of those costs were due to legal claims from the injured parties.

Among the incidents noted was the time five firefighters suffered a skin irritation due to inspecting a fire blanket, according to the Local Democracy Reporting Service.

Warm weather also led to more moorland fires, which brought a number of issues, including navigating uneven terrain.

Consequently, PPE in recent years has been improved for wildfires, with the introduction of dedicated boots which provide better ankle support.

The report said: "Given the trend of warmer summers and wetter, milder winters, this is a trend that is set to continue."

In some areas, the accident rate has improved.

The report noted in the 2024/25 period the service had a problem with equipment falling out of lockers in new-style fire engines.

Improvements were made to the stowage design to reduce the risk, and in the 2025/26 period, only one such accident occurred, according to the report.

"This is a great example of learning lessons from safety events and using them to make improvements," it added.

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