North Yorkshire's firefighters are getting fewer fires to fight, according to new statistics.

But that does not mean the emergency service workers have less to do - they are being kept busy carrying out more rescues at road accidents and other incidents.

The service carried out 33 rescues at fires in 1998-99 compared with 24 the previous year and 32 in 1996-97.

But the number of rescues at other incidents went up sharply from 367 in 1997-98 to 522 in 1998-99, reflecting the changing role for the county's firefighters to a general rescue service.

In total the service answered 2,945 fire calls in 1998-99, compared with 3,266 the previous year.

The number of other incidents such as road accidents that firefighters attended was 1,714, a drop of 20 on the previous year but still much higher than the 1,471 incidents from 1996-97.

The number of false alarms attended has also dropped from 4,684 to 4,325, according to figures from the Home Office and Audit Commission.

And the "generally wet weather" North Yorkshire has experienced in the last couple of years is said to be partly responsible for a reduction in outdoor fires.

The figures will be presented to the North Yorkshire Fire and Rescue Authority on September 6 by chief fire officer Eric Clark, who says the total number of incidents attended decreased by 7.2 per cent.

"This overall reduction hides some significant differences between types of incident, with fire involving property showing a 3.3 per cent decrease while non-property fires decreased by 20.5 per cent.

"This is a reflection of the generally wet weather, which reduces the incidence of grass and woodland fires."

His report adds: "It is also encouraging to see the numbers of false alarms beginning to reduce after many years of continuous increase. Significant efforts have been made in targeting premises where a high number of false calls occur to assist in rectifying their problems and the benefits are beginning to become apparent.

"Malicious false alarms were also down by over ten per cent and the brigade is determined to ensure offenders are prosecuted wherever possible."

Mr Clark says the service cost £17,450,000 for the year ending March 31, equating to £24.17 per head of the county's population.

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