« Previous | Contents | Next »
Listen
2. Main Points
- In 2005, the total number of fires in Scotland was 46,971, slightly up from 46,933 in 2004. Of these fires, 15,126 (32 per cent) were primary fires, 30,389 (65 per cent) were secondary fires and 1,456 (3 per cent) were chimney fires.
- Over two-thirds (68 per cent) of primary fires were in buildings, 26 per cent were road vehicle fires and the remaining primary fires were other outdoor fires. The most common secondary fires were refuse fires (69 per cent) and grassland fires (21 per cent).
- In Scotland, there were a total of 65 fatal casualties in 2005 - a fall of 34 (34 per cent) on the figures from 2004. Fifty eight (89 per cent) of fatal casualties in 2005 occurred in dwellings fires and 4 (6 per cent) were in road vehicles.
- The number of non-fatal casualties in Scotland in 2005 was 1,667, a decrease of 10 per cent compared with 2004. Of these non-fatal casualties, 1,461 occurred in dwellings fires (88 per cent) and 118 (7 per cent) occurred in other buildings.
- In comparison to the other UK countries, Scotland reported both the highest number of fatal casualties per million population and the highest rate of non-fatal casualties (to those not working for fire and rescue services) per million population. It is of note that the Scottish rate of fatal casualties per 1,000 dwelling fires tends to be more similar to the rates in the other UK countries. This suggests that the reason for Scotland's higher overall fatality rate per million population reflected a higher risk of dwellings fires rather than a greater likelihood of a fatal casualty occurring in such fires.
- The biggest cause of fatal casualties was being overcome by gas or smoke (35 fatal casualties, or 54 per cent). A further 20 (31 per cent) fatal casualties were caused by burns and overcome by gas or smoke, and 5 (8 per cent) fatal casualties were caused by burns alone.
- Looking at fatal casualties in accidental dwellings fires, the main source of ignition, where specified, is smokers' materials and matches (56 per cent) followed by cooking appliances (18 per cent), mainly involving misuse of equipment.
- There were 5,847 deliberate primary fires, representing 39 per cent of total primary fires in 2005 - down from 6,532 (41 per cent of total primary fires) in 2004. The pattern of accidental fires causing significantly more fatal and non-fatal casualties than deliberate fires has held throughout the past decade.
- The majority of fatal casualties have occurred in dwellings fires where either the smoke detector was present but failed to operate or in dwellings fires where a smoke detector was absent.
- In 2005, total false fire alarms in Scotland constituted 53,506 incidents, representing 53 per cent of total call outs to fires (primary, secondary and chimney) and false fire alarms. This is down slightly from 54 per cent in 2004. Six per cent (5,762) of false alarms were categorised as malicious.
« Previous | Contents | Next »