To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department (1) how many fires there were in (a) occupied dwellings, (b) multiple-occupied dwellings in detached, semi-detached and terraced houses, and (c) multiple-occupied dwellings in other buildings, in each of the three most recent years for which figures are available; and if he will analyse these data by the most likely cause of fire;(2) how many
(a) deaths, and (b) casualties there were due to fire in (i) single occupied dwellings, (ii) multiple-occupied dwellings in detached, semi-detached and terraced house, and (iii) multiple-occupied dwellings in
other buildings, analysed by the most likely cause of fire, in each of the three most recent years for which figures are available.
Some information on fires attended by local authority fire brigades in dwellings in single and multiple occupation, and on the resulting casualties, is published annually in "Fire Statistics United Kingdom" (for example, tables 32, 46 and 47 of the volume for 1986) copies of which are in the Library. The following tables give the more detailed information requested, for the years 1984–86. Information for 1987 is not yet available.
Fatal casualties from fires in dwellings by type of dwelling and cause of fire | |||
1984 | 1985 | 1986 | |
United Kingdom | |||
Dwellings in single occupation—total | 436 | 438 | 462 |
Cause | |||
Deliberate or possibly deliberate | 40 | 45 | 47 |
Faulty appliances, leads or fuel supplies | 35 | 33 | 34 |
Misuse of appliances | 78 | 89 | 91 |
Playing with fire | 20 | 32 | 42 |
Careless handling of fire or hot substances | 139 | 125 | 118 |
Placing articles too close to heat | 51 | 47 | 50 |
Other, unknown or unspecified | 73 | 67 | 80 |
Detached semi-detached or terraced houses in multiple occupation—total | 99 | 86 | 89 |
Cause | |||
Deliberate or possibly deliberate | 5 | 13 | 5 |
Faulty appliances, leads or fuel supplies | 11 | 4 | 3 |
Misuse of appliances | 14 | 10 | 20 |
Playing with fire | — | — | 3 |
Careless handling of fire or hot substances | 38 | 42 | 35 |
Placing articles too close to heat | 8 | 10 | 12 |
Other, unknown or unspecified | 23 | 7 | 11 |
Other dwellings in multiple occupation—total | 151 | 169 | 194 |
Cause | |||
Deliberate or possibly deliberate | 12 | 16 | 14 |
Faulty appliances, leads or fuel supplies | 9 | 21 | 20 |
Misuse of appliances | 27 | 17 | 35 |
Playing with fire | 1 | 13 | 10 |
Careless handling of fire or hot substances | 74 | 66 | 79 |
Placing articles too close to heat | 12 | 19 | 12 |
Other, unknown or unspecified | 16 | 17 | 24 |
Dwellings in multiple occupation of unspecified type—total | — | — | — |
All dwellings in multiple occupation | 250 | 255 | 283 |
Fires in dwellings by type of dwelling and cause of fire | |||
United Kingdom | 1984 | 1985 | 1986 |
Dwellings in single occupation—total | 34,972 | 36,905 | 37,313 |
Cause | |||
Deliberate or possibly deliberate | 1,837 | 1,908 | 2,065 |
Faulty appliances, leads or fuel supplies | 7,152 | 7,798 | 7,990 |
Misuse of appliances | 15,663 | 16,429 | 16,682 |
Playing with fire | 1,518 | 1,740 | 1,548 |
Careless handing of fire or hot substances | 3,354 | 3,386 | 3,441 |
United Kingdom
| 1984
| 1985
| 1986
|
Placing articles too close to heat | 2,336 | 2,557 | 2,627 |
Other, unknown or unspecified | 3,112 | 3,087 | 2,960 |
Detached, semi-detached or terraced houses in multiple occupation—total
| 6,616 | 7,242 | 7,343 |
Cause | |||
Deliberate or possibly deliberate | 678 | 865 | 870 |
Faulty appliances, leads or fuel supplies | 930 | 1,050 | 1,065 |
Misuse of appliances | 2,921 | 3,010 | 3,109 |
Playing with fire | 315 | 316 | 303 |
Careless handing of fire or hot substances | 938 | 1,099 | 1,102 |
Placing articles too close to heat | 430 | 485 | 496 |
Other, unknown or unspecified | 404 | 417 | 398 |
Other dwellings in multiple occupation—total
| 14,383 | 15,203 | 15,020 |
Cause | |||
Deliberate or possibly deliberate | 2,702 | 3,028 | 3,166 |
Faulty appliances, leads or fuel supplies | 1,220 | 1,382 | 1,310 |
Misuse of appliances | 5,251 | 5,564 | 5,637 |
Playing with fire | 1,476 | 1,556 | 1,297 |
Careless handing of fire or hot substances | 2,423 | 2,509 | 2,520 |
Placing articles too close to heat | 609 | 619 | 682 |
Other, unknown or unspecified | 702 | 545 | 408 |
Dwellings in multiple occupation of unspecified type—total
| 21 | 23 | 26 |
All dwellings in multiple occupation
| 21,020 | 22,468 | 22,389 |
Non-fatal casualties from fires in dwellings by type of dwelling and cause of fire
| |||
United Kingdom
| 1984
| 1985
| 1986
|
Dwellings in single occupation—total | 4,546 | 4,836 | 5,459 |
Cause | |||
Deliberate or possible deliberate | 329 | 337 | 424 |
Faulty appliances, leads or fuel supplies | 591 | 671 | 697 |
Misuse of appliances | 1,727 | 1,929 | 2,124 |
Playing with fire | 363 | 420 | 408 |
Careless handling of fire or hot substances | 897 | 796 | 1,057 |
Placing articles too close to heat | 345 | 341 | 429 |
Other, unknown or unspecified | 294 | 342 | 320 |
Detached, semi-detached or terraced houses in multiple occupation—total
| 1,167 | 1,230 | 1,347 |
Cause | |||
Deliberate or possibly deliberate | 121 | 170 | 191 |
Faulty appliances, leads or fuel supplies | 112 | 117 | 128 |
Misuse of appliances | 388 | 431 | 475 |
Playing with fire | 34 | 31 | 48 |
Careless handling of fire or hot substances | 289 | 283 | 303 |
Placing articles too close to heat | 89 | 98 | 109 |
Other, unknown or unspecified | 134 | 100 | 93 |
Other dwellings in multiple occupation—total
| 1,945 | 2,276 | 2,385 |
Cause | |||
Deliberate or possibly deliberate | 314 | 367 | 411 |
Faulty appliances, leads or fuel supplies | 154 | 193 | 136 |
Misuse of appliances | 682 | 766 | 842 |
Playing with fire | 96 | 154 | 108 |
Careless handling of fire or hot substances | 472 | 514 | 638 |
United Kingdom
| 1984
| 1985
| 1986
|
Placing articles too close to heat | 140 | 148 | 168 |
Other, unknown or unspecified | 87 | 134 | 82 |
Dwellings in multiple occupation of unspecified type—total
| — | — | 4 |
All dwellings in multiple occupation
| 3,112 | 3,506 | 3,736 |
To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department how many rescues were made by fire brigades from fires in (a) single-occupied dwellings, (b) multiple-occupied dwellings in detached, semi-detached and terraced houses and (c) multiple-occupied dwellings in other buildings, in each of the three most recent years for which figures are available.
The numbers of persons rescued, both by brigade staff and without brigade assistance, from fires attended by local authority fire brigades in dwellings and other occupied buildings in the United Kingdom are published in "Fire Statistics United Kingdom" (Table 20 of the volume for 1986, copies of which are in the Library). The following table gives the more detailed information requested for rescues by brigade staff for the years 1984–86. Information for 1987 is not yet available.
Rescues by brigades from fires in dwellings by type of occupancy United Kingdom | |||
Type of building | Number of persons rescued | ||
1984 | 1985 | 1986 | |
Dwellings | |||
Single occupancy | 897 | 932 | 1,044 |
Multiple occupancy |
Fatal casualties from fires in dwellings by type of dwelling, age and whether trapped—United Kingdom | ||||||
Number of persons | ||||||
1984 | 1985 | 1986 | ||||
Total | Trapped | Total | Trapped | Total | Trapped | |
Dwellings in single occupation | ||||||
Total casualties | 436 | 300 | 438 | 295 | 462 | 299 |
0–15 years | 97 | 93 | 74 | 68 | 81 | 75 |
16–60 years | 112 | 80 | 111 | 83 | 147 | 106 |
Over 60 years | 227 | 127 | 251 | 143 | 232 | 116 |
Unspecified age | — | — | 2 | 1 | 2 | 2 |
Detached, semi-detached or terrace houses in multiple occupation | ||||||
Total casualties | 99 | 66 | 86 | 62 | 89 | 62 |
0–15 years | 13 | 9 | 4 | 4 | 7 | 7 |
16–60 years | 43 | 33 | 39 | 32 | 40 | 31 |
Over 60 years | 43 | 24 | 43 | 26 | 41 | 23 |
Unspecified age | — | — | — | — | 1 | 1 |
Other dwellings in multiple occupation | ||||||
Total casualties | 151 | 113 | 169 | 113 | 194 | 120 |
0–15 years | 11 | 11 | 28 | 27 | 29 | 25 |
16–60 years | 57 | 47 | 46 | 30 | 56 | 33 |
Over 60 years | 83 | 55 | 95 | 56 | 109 | 62 |
Unspecified age | — | — | — | — | — | — |
Casualties in dwellings in multiple occupation of unspecified type | — | — | — | — | — | — |
All casualties in dwellings in multiple occupation | 250 | 179 | 255 | 175 | 283 | 182 |
1 The figures for persons trapped exclude those who became casualties while discovering or fighting the fire but were also trapped. |
Type of building
| Number of persons rescued
| ||
1984
| 1985
| 1986
| |
Detached, semi-detached or terraced houses | 603 | 693 | 687 |
Other | 1,015 | 1,177 | 1,127 |
Of unspecified type | — | — | 6 |
Unknown or unspecified occupancy | 39 | 42 | 47 |
All dwellings | 2,554 | 2,844 | 2,911 |
To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department if he will provide a breakdown of the data for (a) deaths and (b) casualties from fires in (i) singly-occupied dwellings, (ii) multiple-occupied dwellings in detached, semi-detached and terraced houses, and (iii) multiple-occupied dwellings in other buildings according to whether the persons were (1) aged under 16 years, (2) aged between 16 and 60 years, and (3) aged over 60 years; and if he will provide information on how many of the fatalities resulted from persons being trapped.
Information on the age, and circumstances, of casualties in fires in dwellings attended by local authority fire brigades is published in "Fire Statistics United Kingdom" (Tables 26, 46 and 47 of the volume for 1986, copies of which are in the Library). The following tables give the more detailed information requested for the years 1984–86. Information for 1987 is not yet available.
Non fatal casualties from fires in dwellings by type of dwelling and age—United Kingdom
| |||
Number of persons
| |||
1984
| 1985
| 1986
| |
Dwellings in single occupation
| |||
Total casualties | 4,246 | 4,836 | 5,459 |
0 to 15 years | 781 | 830 | 949 |
16 to 60 years | 2,254 | 2,747 | 3,073 |
Over 60 years | 1,125 | 1,176 | 1,303 |
Unspecified age | 86 | 83 | 134 |
Detached, semi-detached or terrace houses in multiple occupation
| |||
Total casualties | 1,167 | 1,230 | 1,347 |
0 to 15 years | 96 | 115 | 143 |
16 to 60 years | 746 | 787 | 878 |
Over 60 years | 308 | 304 | 285 |
Unspecified age | 17 | 24 | 41 |
Other dwellings in multiple occupation
| |||
Total casualties | 1,945 | 2,276 | 2,385 |
0 to 15 years | 282 | 313 | 295 |
16 to 60 years | 1,106 | 1,289 | 1,423 |
Over 60 years | 526 | 650 | 606 |
Unspecified age | 31 | 24 | 61 |
Casualties in dwellings in multiple occupation of unspecified type
| — | — | 4 |
All casualties in dwellings in multiple occupation | 3,112 | 3,506 | 3,736 |