Reference: FOI 091/23
Number of domestic fires
Received 24 July 2023
Request
Could I please request data on the following:
- The total number of domestic fires attended in the most recent one-year period you have available.
- The cause or category of each fire, if possible.
Response
Provided are results for the last fiscal year – 2022-04-01 to 2023-04-01
| Main cause | Accidental | Deliberate | Not Known | Total |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Cooking - other cooking | 75 | 0 | 0 | 75 |
| Heat source and combustibles brought together deliberately | 0 | 66 | 0 | 66 |
| Fault in equipment or appliance | 63 | 0 | 0 | 63 |
| Combustible articles too close to heat source (or fire) | 48 | 0 | 1 | 49 |
| Other | 36 | 0 | 3 | 43 |
| Cooking - chip pan/deep fat fryer | 34 | 0 | 0 | 34 |
| Careless handling - due to careless disposal | 30 | 0 | 0 | 30 |
| Overheating, unknown cause | 15 | 0 | 8 | 23 |
| Faulty leads to equipment or appliance | 21 | 0 | 0 | 21 |
| Negligent use of equipment or appliance (heat source) | 15 | 0 | 1 | 16 |
| Faulty fuel supply - electricity | 13 | 0 | 0 | 13 |
| Accumulation of flammable material | 8 | 0 | 0 | 8 |
| Careless handling - due to knocking over | 6 | 0 | 0 | 6 |
| Playing with fire (or heat source) | 6 | 0 | 0 | 6 |
| Chimney fire | 5 | 0 | 0 | 5 |
| Careless handling - due to sleep or unconsciousness | 4 | 0 | 0 | 4 |
| Bomb/incendiary device | 0 | 0 | 0 | 4 |
| Other intentional burning out of control | 2 | 0 | 0 | 2 |
| Suicide/attempted: setting fire to self | 0 | 2 | 0 | 2 |
| Bonfire burning out of control | 2 | 0 | 0 | 2 |
| Not Known | 1 | 0 | 0 | 1 |
| Faulty fuel supply | 1 | 0 | 0 | 1 |
| Natural occurrence | 1 | 0 | 0 | 1 |
| Total | 386 | 76 | 13 | 475 |