The average time it takes for a fire engine to reach a critical incident across Hampshire and the Isle of Wight has increased by nearly a minute in less than 5 years, now standing at 9 minutes and 49 seconds.
Figures revealed in the Hampshire & Isle of Wight Fire and Rescue Service’s latest Annual Performance Report, which covers April 2024 to March 2025, confirm that response times have gradually worsened since 2020, when the average was 8 minutes and 57 seconds.
It’s said that the rise is partly due to more incidents happening in rural and on-call areas, which naturally take longer to reach.
For the Isle of Wight, this trend is particularly relevant. The report highlights that daytime availability for on-call firefighters remains challenging, with average availability across the service sitting at just 43% during the day, compared to 73% overnight. 8 out of 10 Isle of Wight fire stations rely entirely on retained crews to maintain cover.
Adding to local pressures, Ryde and Shanklin are named as some of the busiest for life-threatening medical co-responding across the region. These crews regularly deal with cardiac arrests and other life-threatening medical emergencies, which can take an appliance off the run for extended periods while they assist paramedics – meaning engines from further afield must be called in to cover other local incidents.
The same report also notes that the risk of serious road traffic collisions is slightly higher on the Isle of Wight than in Hampshire, with local roads presenting similar high-risk levels to the national average. This is significant as road crashes are one of the leading reasons firefighters are called out.
The figures come at a time when a public consultation is underway on proposals to close 2 of the Isle of Wight’s 10 fire stations; Bembridge and Yarmouth. Public meetings are being held and residents are being urged to take part in the consultation process to ensure local views are heard on how any changes could affect fire cover.
But medical response will not impact fire availability and response times they said !!!!
Just 1 minute in 5 years – I would have expected a bigger delay time to be honest. With all the roadworks, poor street parking, diversions and road closures, I’m surprised any of the emergency services can still meet their response times here!
Response time Delays due to Rural Area Calls ?
nothing to do with the fact that Fire Appliances being removed from Fire stations and the Nationwide policy of closing down fire stations .
Closing Yarmouth and Bembridge stations will only make this average worse
Closing the Bembridge fire station is sheer madness. When a local station like Bembridge is closed the waiting time for an appliance to come from Ryde or Sandown will add 15 to 20 minutes plus if involved in busy traffic. With Bembridge getting larger, the last thing would be to remove the cover. As an ex Fire Fighter there back in the late 1960s the Bembridge crew got to the station and out to the incident as fast as humanly possible and even though I say so myself, we did a damn good job with no life lost. Penny pinching morons.