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2010/2011 Fire Statistics

The latest fire statistics for 2010/2011 were released on Friday 25th November.

Key Highlights 2010-11

Deaths From Fires

  • In 2010-11, there were 388 fire-related deaths in Britain, 28 fewer than in 2009-10 and the lowest level recorded since the 1950’s
  • The highest number recorded was 1,096 deaths in 1979. Through the 1980s and 1990s there has been a general downward trend.
  • The majority of fire-related deaths occurred in dwelling fires. In 2010/2011 306 deaths were recorded as a result of dwelling fires, 88% were of accidental causes.
  • The main cause was careless handling of fire or hot substances (e.g. careless disposal of cigarettes), accounting for 39% of all deaths due to accidental cause. The highest fatality rate was from fires which started in the living or dining room.

Non-fatal Casualties

  • There were 11,100 non-fatal casualties in fires in Britain in 2010-11. This was 5% higher than the number recorded in 2009-10, though still 3% lower than in 2008-09 and lower than any other year in the last two decades.
  • The majority of non-fatal casualties, 8,900 (80%) were from dwelling fires. 
  • The greatest cause of injury in accidental dwelling fires was the misuse of equipment and appliances (2,400 injuries)

Attendance – Fires and False Alarms

  • In 2010-11 Fire and Rescue Services attended 624,000 fires or false alarms in Britain, 5% fewer than in 2009-10
  • A total of 287,000 fires were attended, 4% fewer than in 2009-10. Around 207,000 (72%) were outdoor fires and 45,000 (16%) were fires in dwellings
  • The total number of accidental primary fires fell by 4% to 75,500 in 2010-11 – the lowest recorded during the last 14 year period.
  • Deliberate fires decreased by 18% to 36,000
  • There were 337,300 false alarms attended in 2010-11, a decrease of 5% from2009-10 and one third lower than the peak level of 507,000 in 1995.
  • The most common type of false alarm was due to apparatus, representing over two thirds of all false alarms in 2010-11.

Dwelling Fires

  • The number of dwelling fires in Britain totalled 45,000 in 2010-11 – a fall of 5% since 2009/10.The majority of dwelling fires were accidental (86%), 38,500 fires.
  • The main cause of accidental dwelling fires remained the misuse of equipment/appliances (14,700 fires), while the main source of ignition was cooking appliances which accounted for half of all accidental dwelling fires)
  • Smoke alarm ownership has increased rapidly from 8% in 1988 to 86% in 2008
  • No smoke alarm was present in 16,400 (37% of) dwelling fires).

Other Building Fires

  • In 2010-11 24,900 fires were recorded in buildings other than dwellings, 6% fewer than in 2009-10. Of these, 65% were accidental compared to over 85% of those in dwellings.
  • There were 19 fatalities and 1,200 injuries resulting from fires in buildings other than dwellings.

Road Vehicle Fires

  • Road vehicle fires totalled 32,500 in 2010-11 – a decrease of 16% from 2009-10 and the lowest number since the mid 1980’s.
  • In 2010-11 there were 44 fatalities and 520 non-fatal casualties as a result of road vehicle fires.

Non-fire Incidents

  • Fire and Rescue Services attended 154,000 non-fire incidents in 2010-11.
  • The most common type of non-fire incident was road traffic incidents. These accounted for 23% of all non-fire incidents in 2010-11.

The full statistics can be downloaded at:
http://www.communities.gov.uk/documents/statistics/pdf/568234.pdf