North Yorkshire Fire and Rescue Service

Our service area

The North Yorkshire and York Fire and Rescue Service area is one of the largest in England covering more than 3,200 square miles and over 6000 miles of road.

Our Service area has isolated rural settlements and farms, market towns, and larger urban areas such as York, Harrogate, and Scarborough.

Our area has two of England’s ten national parks, three designated areas of outstanding natural beauty, over 200 sites of special scientific interest and over 12,000 listed buildings.

Overall, our area is sparsely populated, but there are still over 340,000 households and over 830,000 residents. The resident population is increasing steadily and becoming predominantly older. The City of York is also home to over 21,000 students, with two universities. More than 20 million visitors come to our area each year. There are over 37,000 active businesses across the area, with hospitality and entertainment being some of the main industries.

The road network is the main means of transport connecting small towns and villages. The rural nature of our area means that people often travel further to access work, education and services. Several major arterial routes also cross our area – the A1(M), M62, A64, A59, A66 and A19.

Two of the major rivers in the county are the River Swale and the River Ure, joining together to form the River Ouse which flows through York. The coastline of North Yorkshire runs for approximately 45 miles from just north of Whitby to south of Filey.

How we deliver our services

North Yorkshire Fire and Rescue Service keeps people and places safe by integrating and balancing the use of Prevention, Protection, Response and Resilience activities, both in our communities and in our workplaces.

Prevention

Preventing emergencies from happening in the first place through education, advice and support.

Protection

Protecting our commercial and public buildings from the risk of fires and reducing the impact should they happen.

Resilience

Helping our communities to protect themselves against, prepare for and recover from emergencies.

Response

Responding to emergency incidents and limiting their impact.