From 3pm on 5th November through to midnight, our firefighters and control room staff responded to a high volume of incidents, handling 457 emergency calls and mobilising to 156 incidents. Across the extended Bonfire Night period (until midnight on Sunday 8 November), crews were mobilised to 515 incidents of all types across West Yorkshire.
These included:
- 87 bonfires
- 181 fires in the open
- 13 dangerous bonfires
Our Fire Car team, which works in partnership with West Yorkshire Police to assess situations and respond to concerns raised by members of the public, was deployed to 58 incidents. The use of six Fire Cars helped ensure fire engines remained available for emergency response.
Unfortunately, despite the vast majority of people celebrating safely, there was an increase in attacks on our firefighters* during this year's Bonfire Night period. There were seven reported attacks on crews compared with five last year. There was also a slight increase in bonfire-related fires compared to 2025.
Area Manager for Operations Scott Donegan says:
"Our crews, Control Room Operators and supporting teams worked around the clock to keep communities safe this Bonfire Night and we'd like to thank the vast majority of people who attended organised displays or celebrated safely at home.
"Unfortunately, we did see seven incidents where our firefighters came under attack. While none of these resulted in injury we take these incidents incredibly seriously- no one should be attacked at work while trying to protect the public. Additionally, damage to our fire engines can impact on our ability to respond quickly to emergencies and We will be working with West Yorkshire Police and encourage anyone with any information about these incidents to come forward."
*Figures based on the two weeks surrounding Bonfire Night for 2025 and 2026.