The number of fires in Essex in the second quarter of this year fell by 13 per cent.

Figures released by Essex County Fire and Rescue Service (ECFRS) revealed that the number of fires dropped from 1,917 in April to June 2007, to 1,660 in the same period this year.

The number of “primary fires”, classified as those in homes and business, dropped from 755 to 704, while secondary fires, smaller blazes including sheds, fences and rubbish, were down from 1,153 to 940.

The statistics also gave figures for other incidents dealt with by the county’s firefighters, with 14 fewer calls to road traffic collisions (from 385 to 371).

Hoax calls dropped from 273 to 220, but the number of false alarms rose by 16 per cent, from 2,144 to 2,492.

ECFRS Senior Divisional Officer Paul Bowers, part of the Community Safety team, said: “Prevention is the best way that we can possibly fight fires and we have been working hard to make Essex as safe as possible.

“We were extremely pleased to see these figures and that all of the work we have done has helped to drive fires, road traffic collisions and hoax calls down.

“We will continue to work with our partners and the community to do more than we have ever done to make Essex safer.”