News and events

Emergency Services to Join Forces Over Bonfire Weekend

Emergency services across Lancashire will collaborate closely this Bonfire Weekend to address the heightened demand typically seen during these busy nights.

Lancashire Fire and Rescue Service (LFRS), Lancashire Constabulary, and North West Ambulance Service (NWAS) are teaming up to provide a coordinated response across the county. Their joint efforts will tackle incidents involving fires with casualties, road traffic collisions, assaults, and medical emergencies where forced entry to properties may be necessary.

As part of this collaboration, a multi-agency vehicle will be deployed, staffed by experienced Operational Commanders from both the Fire and Police services. These teams will conduct joint assessments at incident scenes, determine resource needs, ensure the safety of both responders and the public, and provide specialist support. The vehicle will respond to any situation requiring a combined service response.

Tom Cookson, Head of Response & Emergency Planning at LFRS, said: “Events like bonfire night often put extra strain on emergency services. By working together, locally based responders can offer vital, life-saving interventions and, in many cases, reduce the number of resources required at an incident, allowing us to prioritise where help is most urgently needed.”

Lancashire Constabulary’s Neighbourhood Chief Inspector for Blackburn with Darwen and Hyndburn, Steph Armes, added: “Bonfire Night is always a busy time of year for emergency services, and our priority is ensuring everyone stays safe. By working closely with our partners, we can respond more effectively to incidents and reduce the risk to both the public and emergency workers.

Anti-social behaviour, including attacks on emergency services responders, is completely unacceptable and we will take swift action against those responsible.”

The multi-agency vehicle initiative has been successfully used in the past, following a trial in 2017. This partnership has proven effective in managing unnecessary incident attendance, reducing the time emergency crews spend at scenes, supporting on-scene commanders, and delivering specialised assistance. Last year, LFRS responded to 158 incidents on Bonfire Night alone, with 59 of those handled by the multi-agency vehicles—freeing up essential resources for other emergencies.

This year, three multi-agency vehicles will operate across East Lancashire from the 3rd to the 5th of November. Key areas identified for deployment include Burnley, Blackburn with Darwen, Hyndburn and Pendle, where an increase in anti-social behaviour, including attacks on emergency workers, has been seen in previous years.