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County Durham and Darlington Fire and Rescue Service attended 1,131 primary fires in its latest reporting year, compared with 481 at Northumberland Fire and Rescue Service. Fatalities and non-fatal casualties from primary fires totalled 47 for County Durham and Darlington and 23 for Northumberland.

Average time from call to first appliance at a dwelling fire is 8:18 in County Durham and Darlington and 10:19 in Northumberland. Response times differ by several minutes, often reflecting geography — larger rural coverage areas mean longer average travel to incidents. On enforcement activity, County Durham and Darlington carried out the larger number of fire safety audits over the year (4,064 vs 1,116). Satisfactory-outcome rates were 51% for County Durham and Darlington and 29% for Northumberland, covering audits that closed without requiring informal action, formal notice, or prohibition. False alarms make up a notably larger share of call-outs in Northumberland (36% vs 30%).