Firefighters attended 67.3% fewer deliberately set fires across Merseyside on Bonfire Night (Saturday 5th November) compared to 2024. Across the entire bonfire period (19th October – 5th November), deliberate fires were also down by 67.6%.

Merseyside Fire & Rescue Service (MFRS) attended 16 deliberately set anti-social behaviour (ASB) fires – which include bonfires, wheelie bin and rubbish fires – between 00:00 and 23:59 on Bonfire Night, compared to 49 on 5th November 2024.

Most areas covered by MFRS – Liverpool, Sefton, Knowsley and Wirral – saw reductions in deliberately set fires, while St Helens remained the same.

Liverpool saw the biggest reduction, with fire crews attending five deliberate fires, down from 27 in 2024. Sefton saw a decrease of three incidents (from eight to five), Knowsley saw a decrease of four (from five to one), and Wirral also recorded a decrease of four (from five to one).

MFRS also attended a third as many potentially dangerous bonfires as last year – 10 compared to 29 in 2024. Sefton saw the highest number (4), followed by Liverpool and St Helens (2 each), and Knowsley and Wirral (1 each).

Crews attended three incidents involving fireworks on Bonfire Night – the same as in 2024 – spread across Knowsley, Liverpool and Sefton. Across the full bonfire period, MFRS attended nine fireworks-related incidents, down from 16 the previous year.

Throughout the bonfire period (19th October – 5th November), firefighters attended 101 deliberately set fires, down 67.6% from 312 in 2024.

In total, Fire Control received 231 emergency 999 calls on Bonfire Night 2025 – an 18.9% decrease from 285 in 2024. Across the entire period, 1,232 emergency 999 calls were received – 10.7% fewer than the 1,379 received last year.

Group Manager for Community Safety, Ged Knock, said: “We’re pleased to see that the majority of people across Merseyside enjoyed a safe Bonfire Night. The reduction in deliberate fires across the bonfire period reflects the hard work of MFRS staff and our partners in preparing and keeping our communities safe.

“What is concerning, however, is that the number of violence at work incidents remained the same as last year on 5^th November – two incidents across Liverpool and Knowsley. While responding to emergencies, our crews were targeted with fireworks, which is completely unacceptable. Firefighters are out protecting our communities on one of our busiest nights of the year; they should never become targets themselves.

“I’d like to thank the public who stepped in to help, the emergency services who attended, and our Fire Control staff for their professionalism and dedication under pressure.”

GM Knock added:
“On Bonfire Night, we take a tolerant view of bonfires that are in the open, supervised by adults and under control. However, those we attended and extinguished were all considered dangerous. We ask everyone to be mindful of how close bonfires are to homes, property, and wheelie bins, and the dangers they pose.

“The bonfire period is always busy for us, but strong partnership working with Merseyside Police, local authorities, housing providers and community groups helps us keep incident numbers low. In recent weeks, firefighters and the prevention team have been out with our partners in communities clearing away almost 80 tonnes of hazardous rubbish and fly-tipping, which could have been used as fuel for fires, and promoting the safe storage of wheelie bins to help prevent them becoming targets for arson.

“We’re grateful to our communities for supporting our safety messages and working with us to make this year’s bonfire period one of the safest in recent years.”

Total 999 calls received by Merseyside Fire & Rescue Service on Tuesday 5^th November (00:00 Sat 5^th – 23:59 Sat 5^th):

Total 999 calls received by Merseyside Fire & Rescue Service between 19^th October – 5^th November

A full and inclusive breakdown of all deliberately set fire incidents attended by Merseyside Fire & Rescue Service on Wednesday 5^th November is detailed below:

Breakdown of all deliberately set fires attended by Merseyside Fire & Rescue Service over the entire bonfire period (19^th October – 5^th November)

The numbers of incidents attended by Merseyside Fire & Rescue Service on Wednesday, 5^th November specifically relating only to bonfires is given below. These figures are included as part of the full breakdown of incidents, detailed above: