Latest Fire Statistics
For information on the latest fire statistics go to Fire
Statistics Monitor at the Department of
Communities and Local Government. The Fire Statistics Monitor
provides the latest quarterly figures
and also provides previous quarters.
Fire statistics - a user guide
for research
Department of Communities and Local Government fire statistics
provide a general purpose description of all fires and false
alarms attended by UK fire brigades based on information collected
from fire reports. Data collected about serious reportable
fires includes:
- Time and date of call
- Brigade or other geographical area
- Type of building or vehicle
- Most likely motive (accidental or malicious)
- Cause of fire (chip or fat pan fires, electrical, etc.)
- Source of ignition (cigarettes, cookers, etc.)
- Materials (furniture, etc.)
- The spread of fire (beyond room of origin, etc.)
- The nature of fire casualties
- Rescue information and method of extinction
- The effectiveness of automatic smoke detectors
This user guide has been developed for brigade personnel,
researchers from other government departments and other non-specialist
users of fire statistics to provide an overview of the range
of fire data available from the Department of Communities
and Local Government.
Why collect fire data?
Fire statistics are produced to monitor the number and characteristics
of fires attended by UK fire brigades, including the causes
and effects of fire so that action can be taken to reduce
the human and financial cost of fire. The effectiveness of
such action can also be measured by fire statistics.
The Department of Communities and Local Government and local
fire brigades use fire statistics in making operational decisions,
policy development and in promoting public awareness about
the dangers of fire. The timely collection of fire statistics
contributes to the stated aim of the Fire and Emergency Planning
Directorate of the Department of Communities and Local Government.
Reduction in the incidence of fire and related death, injury
and damage and ensuring the safety of the public through civil
protection. Other Government Departments also use Department
of Communities and Local Government fire data, for example,
the Department of Trade and Industry use fire statistics to
inform their research into consumer safety issues.
A comprehensive breadth of fire data is available for general
or specialist researchers to investigate. There are also a
small number of parliamentary questions about fire each year.
What fire data are collected?
The details of each property fire and/or fire involving casualties
attended by UK fire brigades are collected on detailed reports
(FDR1). These reports are keyed into a database which amounts
annually to about 200,000 more serious fires where data has
been collected individually. Brigades also supply monthly
summary figures for small outdoor fires, chimney fires and
false alarms. These are returned to the Department of Communities
and Local Government on an aggregate form (FDR3).
The British Crime Survey (BCS) is a large sample survey which
is mainly concerned with measuring the extent of crime against
householders in England and Wales. However, on occasion, it
also includes questions on recent experiences of having a
fire at home. The results provide a useful supplement to the
reports collected by brigades.
Fire Statistics History
In 1978, the Fire Damage Report (FDR1) was introduced taking
over from the K433 fire report form. From 1979, the fire statistical
data collected by brigades was computerised in electronic
format by the Home Office. The data for the years 1978 and
1980 were not complete due to industrial action. Complete
fire datasets are available for adhoc analysis back to 1981.
We have published fire statistics going back to the mid-1940s.
In 1988 and 1989, a shortened version of coding was used for
type of property and for trade or business categories, reducing
the amount of detail available in these years. In 1994, form
FDR1 was revised involving many changes in the structure of
the fire data collected by brigades, opening up the potential
for electronic data interchange between brigades and the Department
of Communities and Local Government which would make possible
more detailed analyses of the causes and effects of fires.
Fire Data
A reportable fire is an event of uncontrolled burning involving
flames, heat or smoke attended by a UK fire brigade. Reportable
fires are classified for data collection purposes by the Department
of Communities and Local Government and by fire brigades into
two main categories, the more serious primary fires for which
data are collected about fires individually and secondary
fires for which aggregate data are collected. Limited information
about chimney fires is also collected.
Primary fires are generally more serious fires occurring
in one or more of the following locations, buildings, caravans
or trailers, vehicles and other methods of transport (not
derelict). Outdoor storage, plant, machinery, agricultural,
forestry property, other outdoor structures including post
boxes, tunnels, bridges, etc. Any fire involving casualties
or rescues, or attended by five or more appliances, would
also be categorised as a primary fire.
Secondary fires are generally small fires which start in,
and are confined to, outdoor locations. Typically, they are
fires in grass or heathland, fires involving rubbish, fires
involving street or railway furniture and fires in derelict
buildings or vehicles. Aggregated basic information is collected
for secondary fires, chimney fires and false fire alarms from
the monthly summary provided by brigades. However, fires in
secondary locations which involve casualties or rescues or
which are attended by five or more appliances are reported
in the same way as a primary location.
Chimney fires are those where the damage caused is restricted
to the chimney involved. Brigades record only the numbers
of chimney fires.
Casualty data
Casualties from fires are categorised as fatal and non-fatal
casualties. A fatal fire casualty is someone whose death is
attributed to a fire, even if death occurred weeks or months
later. However, it is possible that, in some cases, a subsequent
death is not reported. The figures for fatalities are subject
to revision as death certificates are received from the Office
for National Statistics (ONS) and the Scottish and Northern
Ireland Registrars General, which tends to increase the numbers.
Conversely, information provided by the Fire Service is forwarded
to ONS, etc. for confirmation that fire was the main cause
of death, which latter information leads to a decrease in
the number recorded, particularly for fires involving road
vehicles.
Accidental or malicious fires
Brigades determine the most likely cause of fire on the basis
of the evidence available. If the certain cause of fire is
not known, brigades are asked to give the cause which could
be most reasonably supposed, given the evidence available.
Accidental fires make up the majority of fires in buildings,
while malicious fires make up the majority of fires in road
vehicles in recent years. Accidental fires include those where
the cause was not known or unspecified. Malicious fires include
those where malicious or deliberate ignition is merely suspected,
and recorded by the brigade as "doubtful".
Since 1994, the assessment of the cause of primary fires
(accidental or malicious) was made by fire brigade personnel
directly ticking the appropriate box on the fire report form
FDR1 rather than by data input managers at the Department
of Communities and Local Government making an assessment of
a text description, as used previously. This changed the classification
of certain types of primary fires, from accidental to malicious.
The effect appeared most noticeable for building fires, where
approximately 4,000 fires may have been categorised as malicious
where they were previously classed as accidental.
Adhoc or customised analysis of fire
data
It is possible to create user-defined adhoc or customised
tables and charts based on the fire statistics collected by
the Department of Communities and Local Government. The information
about primary fires recorded by brigades on the FDR1 is converted
by the Department of Communities and Local Government into
data items which make up an annual database of fire statistics
(data exists in electronic format for adhoc analysis purposes
from 1981 onwards). The data items are converted into analytic
variables by using a statistical analysis package. On the
basis of data items collected, it is possible to derive the
location of fire, most likely cause, source of ignition, spread
of fire, method of fire-fighting, time and day of call to
brigade, risk to life, rescue information, the details of
casualties and many other variables. Since 1994, FDR1 forms
have been input on the basis of a systematic sample, with
the following approximate sampling fractions: 1994 - 10 percent;
1995 - 40 percent; 1996 -20 percent; 1997 - 20 percent. Each
fire record is weighted to agreed brigade totals, according
to the brigade area and the time of year in which the fire
occurs. However, all fires involving fatal and non-fatal casualties
are input, making a 100% record of casualty fires. Both fire
and casualty data are revised based on information received
from brigades in the following year. During the year of input
and initial publication, all data are regarded as provisional.
If you would like to study the full guide click on Fire
statistics - a user guide for research
Fire Statistics DCLG publications
The latest statistics can be found on the DCLG website and
require an Acrobat Reader to to download them. If you would
like to use the DCLG website click on DCLG
and you can choose the relevant statistics you require.
National Statistics Online
The National
Statistics Online has datasets on fire related
matters that may be of use.
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