Fires (Statistics)

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

Volume 130: debated on Wednesday 30 March 1988