Fires 1 - UK Fire Statistics

Question 1

How many deaths are as a direct result of fires per year in UK/Europe/USA?

Answer 1

400
7500
3500

Question 2

What effects on money do fires have generally?

Answer 2

Direct costs from damage to properties
Indirect costs much greater (up to tenfold)
For an advanced western economy the total cost of fires (and explosions) is 1% of GDP (gross domestic product)

Question 2

What are the estimates about the percentage of dwelling fires and other structure fires that have a malicious or suspected malicious cause?

Answer 2

15-20 % and 30-40 % respectively

Question 3

Where do the fire statistics come from in the UK (timeline)?

What effect does this have?

Answer 3

Before 2000 - home office responsible for fire service and all fire stats
After 2000: DTLR (department for transport, local government and regions)
2002: OPDM (office of deputy prime minister)
2006: (after John Prescott affair), DCLG (department for communities and local government) (and all fire and rescue service)
2016: home office

fire stats have changed hands a lot so this can cause changes in datasets

Question 4

What fire stats are collected?

Answer 4

Give a description of key info of all fires (and false alarms) attended by UK fire brigades based on standardised info collected from fire reports (never used to be standardised)

• time/date of call
• brigade or other geographical data
• type of building or vehicle inlk volved
• most probable motive (intentional or accidental)
• cause of fire (electrical, arson etc.)
• source of ignition (cigarette, cooker, chip pan fire)
• materials combusted (furniture, etc.)
• fire spread (how a fire spread past the point of origin)
• nature of the victims (age, sex) of fire casualties
• rescue method and method of extinction (how they were rescued and how was fire put out?)
• automatic smoke detector capability (did smoke alarm go off?)

Question 5

Why do we collect fire stats?

What is the overall goal of collecting fire stats?

Answer 5

To help us monitor the number of and the characteristics of fires attended by UK fire brigades.
It also allows for consideration of causes and effects of fires so future action can be taken to reduce human and financial costs of fires

To reduce the incidence of fire and related deaths/injury/damage and ensuring public safety.

Question 6

How are fire stats collected?

Which method is better and why?

Answer 6

Before 2008: all done by paper (more inaccuracies and reporting delays)

After 2008: IRS (incident recording system) - allows data on all accidents attended by UK FRS to be collected electronically and verified at source using same core set of questions

After 2008 method is better as improved on timeliness, accuracy and efficiency of paper based. A single source reporting system improves first response.

Question 7

When are fire statistics measured?

Answer 7

Annually and they are released every April inline with the financial year.

Question 8

What are the UK fire statistics for the number of incidents attended in 2023, compared to 2022/23 and 2013/14?

Answer 8

591,676 incidents attended in 2023
4.8 % decrease from 2022/23
11 % decease from 2013/14

Question 9

What % of incidents in 2023/24 involved a fire?

Answer 9

29 % of incidents involved a fire

Question 10

What are the UK fire statistics for the number of non fatal casualties and hospitalisation in 2023/24 and 2022/23?

Answer 10

6,205 non-fatal casualties (increase of 0.9 % from 2022/23)

of which 2,762 required hospitalisation (increase of 5.95% from 2022/23)

Question 11

What is the overall trend in fire incidents in recent years? Explain this?

What is the number of fires like in 2022/23 compared to 2006/7?

Answer 11

a decline in fire incidents overall.
- decrease in overall number of fires and false alarms
- same non-fire related incidents

2006/7 there was 336,233 fires which is more than double last year

Question 12

Since 2021, how does the trend in fire incidents seem? What is important to note about this?

Answer 12

Seems like there is a minimal increase however when you look at this over past 10 years can see it is just a plateau

Question 13

What is the difference between 2006/7 and 2023/24 fire stats?

Why?

Answer 13

since 2006/7, more non-fire incidents but overall incident rate has decreased in that time

Because there are fewer fires and false alarms

Question 14

What is the trend in fatalities between 1981/82 and 2023/24?

Answer 14

fatalities are dropping every year

Question 15

Where do the majority of deaths happen over the years?

Answer 15

in dwellings

people tend to be at home when a fire happens and there are more likely to be people in dwellings as that is what they are for

Question 16

What is the overall trend in year-on-year fire incidents?

Answer 16

a decrease. might be a plateau but need another decade to see

2017 is an anomaly due to Grenfell which was given an individual data set as well to be able to observe the ‘normal trend’

Question 17

What changed in 2009 that caused an increase in granularity?

Answer 17

from 2009 used an online IRS so all data after this has granularity (can split up incidents by severity and categorise them a bit more

Question 18

What is the trend in non-fatal incidents between 1981 and current?

What is the probable explanation for this trend

Answer 18

up until 1996: casualties climbed year on year
after 1996: there is a downward trend which continues through to present day

smoke alarms were made mandatory in 1991 so their ownership had a huge growth spurt and almost perfectly intersects with reduction of casualties we observe

Question 19

2020/2021: what is the largest ignition category for accidental dwelling fires?

What percentage of accidental dwelling fires/non-fatal casualties and fire related fatalities does this category account for?

Answer 19

cooking appliances

46 % of accidental dwelling fires
35 % of non-fatal casualties
10 % fire-related fatalities

Question 20

2020/2021: what is the largest ignition category for fire related fatalities?

What percentage of accidental dwelling fires/non-fatal casualties and fire related fatalities does this category account for?

Answer 20

smokers materials

8 % of accidental dwelling fires
8 % of non-fatal casualties
32 % fire-related fatalities

Question 21

What is the most abundant cause for accidental dwelling fires in 2020/21 (and 2019/20)?

Answer 21

31 % caused by misuse of equipment or appliance in 2020/21 compared to 34 % in previous year

Question 22

What was the number one cause of accidental dwelling fires in 2016/17?

Answer 22

cooking

Question 23

What is the trend in chip/fat pan fires in 1994 compared to 2016/17?

Answer 23

number one cooking mishap.

decrease due to lifestyle habits over the years e.g. air fryers

Question 24

what is the trend in accidental dwelling fires since 2000/1 to 2015/16? why?

Answer 24

been going down 1. reduction in smokers from 27 % in 2001 to 16 % in 2015/16 so this trend in accidental dwelling fires correlates with this. this is a definite correlation as the removal of an ignition source provides the causation. there are fewer people smoking now so fewer opportunities for ignition 2. fire safe cigarettes (they now have a less porous portion of the paper that acts as a break in the cigarette - breakaway strip which doesn't go through and burn past unless you actively draw air through) introduced in 2011. so UK regulations made smoking less likely to cause a fire 3. change in lifestyle e.g. vaping so less cigarettes around the house

Question 25

What is the trend in accidental dwelling fires linked to booze and drugs in 2010/11 compared to 2016/17?

Answer 25

decreased with the trend of decreasing accidental dwelling fires. 7 % of accidental dwelling fires linked to booze and drugs in 2016/17

Question 26

What are the three types of fire categories in UK IRS?

Answer 26

dwelling fires - habitable other primary fires - non-dwelling building cars secondary or chimney fires (caused by build up of soot and chemicals)

Question 27

What most abundant type of fire attended by fire services?

Answer 27

secondary and chimney fires, then other primary fires then dwelling fires

Question 28

What trends are thought to have an effect om the trend of dwelling fires and fire related fatalities? Why are these only thought?

Answer 28

1988 furnishings regulation: prohibited certain materials from being used in furniture and must contain fire retardants 1992 smoke alarms: had to be in rental properties and other public buildings, meant fire service alerted sooner 2000 escape windows 2005 electrical standards and general product regulations - no more poor connections from cheap electronics would start a fire 2006 sprinklers hard to isolate the single variable that has had the most impact

Question 29

What has improved and what hasn't?

Answer 29

improved: - change in cooking habits - increase in smoke alarms - less smoking in the population - reduction in drug and alcohol use - improved safety standards - preventative work and education not improved: - aging population - overcrowding/higher occupancy - arson

Question 30

What is the current UK definition for 'primary fire'?

Answer 30

includes all fires in buildings, vehicles and any outdoor structures or any fires involving casualties or rescues or any fires attended by five or more appliances (where appliance = fire related equipment such as fire engine)

Question 31

What is the current UK definition for 'secondary fire'?

Answer 31

comprise the majority of outdoor fires including grassland and refuse fires unless they involve casualties or rescues, property loss, or five or more appliances attend. also include fires in derelict buildings

Question 32

What is the current UK definition for 'deliberate fire'?

Answer 32

include those where deliberate ignitions were merely suspected and recorded by the FRS as 'doubtful' (more likely to be deliberate) - involve reasonable suspicion for investigation

Question 33

What is the current UK definition for 'accidental fires'?

Answer 33

those that started accidentally or those where the cause was recorded as 'not known'

Question 34

what effect does seasonal variation have on fires?

Answer 34

fires in grassland occur more in summer (gets hotter = grass dries out = more easily set alight) more chimney fires in winter as more people are using them if after a wet spring with lots of rain = increase in plant growth = next spring less plant growth = more fuel to burn = more secondary fires