Incident reports IRS

How to make a IRS request

Following a fire, there's often a need to obtain an official confirmation and details of the incident. We aim to provide eligible parties with the information requested to the best of our ability.

What information is available

The information available in our reports is collected primarily for statistical purposes. This is in according to a standardised procedure and largely determined recording scheme specified by the Home Office. As a result, if your request is for information that is not routinely recorded, we may not be able to provide that information.

We are generally unable to release any information regarding the phone calls we received in relation to the incident, especially caller details. We also are unable to release information on individuals involved in an incident.

Certain reports may be withheld, pending full investigation. This is especially where there may be criminal investigations or where we are still determining if the cause of the fire was deliberate or accidental.

The report will have to be edited before release so that we comply with the Data Protection Act to safeguard personal information.

Precognitions

Whilst we do appreciate on occasion the IRS report may not provide the level of detail required we do offer the option to precognose the Officer In Charge.

We receive a high volume of requests to speak to Officers. We attend approximately 86,000 incidents per year, you will appreciate the time this would take Officers every day to respond to these requests. Therefore, legal services require all requests to interview or ask questions of crews as a precognition.

Operational firefighters have daily work routines such as

• checking equipment and appliances
• scheduled training
• being reactive to incidents

As an emergency service, the daily work routines must take priority over any other requests. This means any requests to speak to Officers must be carefully managed to minimise disruption to operational duties. Legal services facilitate requests to ensure Officers have specific time assigned which does not interfere with their daily work duties and responsibilities.

In this instance, you will be required to contact the Precognitions Officer to make a request to speak to the Officer In Charge in the presence of your Solicitor.

Should you wish to progress this matter, you can contact us by: