Firefighter numbers in England down 20% since 2010, analysis shows

Firefighters battle a grass fire on Leyton flats in east London. The LFB has been hit hardest by funding cuts. Photograph: Yui Mok/PA

As the role of the fire service in tackling the worst effects of the climate crisis becomes clearer, so does the scale of cuts to the service in recent years.

Guardian analysis of publicly available data shows total firefighter headcount across 46 English fire authorities has fallen 20.4% since 2010, with 35,279 in 2021 compared with 44,307 in 2010, accounting for full-time and on-call firefighters.