London firefighters rescued 2,455 people last year

THE LONDON Fire Brigade has revealed its performance figures for the financial year April 2025 to March 2026 – and it turns out that 2,455 Londoners have reason to say “thank you” to London firefighters.

That’s an average of nearly seven people a day being rescued. It’s not just fires that lead to rescues. Only 247 people were rescued from fires last year, around five people a week, which is an 18% increase on rescues from fires since the previous year. Surprisingly, it is “people collapsed behind a locked door” that led to the largest number of rescues, with a huge 1,050 people being helped last year. The second highest number of rescues was – you may have guessed this – rescuing people from lifts: 379 people rescued. The highest number of people rescued in a single incident occurred in Havering, where nine people were trapped in a lift in a commercial property. They also take on rescuing people from water-related incidents.

Rescues are not all that is keeping the Brigade busy. They also investigate the causes of fire, in which work they are assisted by the Brigade’s Fire Investigation Dogs. They also work with partners to improve community safety. This range of work requires a range of skills and local knowledge, so training is a key activity for firefighters too – as is maintaining their range of specialist vehicles and equipment.

London Fire Commissioner Jonathan Smith thanked London Mayor Sadiq Khan for his support for the Brigade over the last year. Jules Pipe, former Mayor of Hackney, promised that this support would continue, and funding would allow for the Brigade to make London a safer city.

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