Fire Statistics Scotland 2011-12

2. Main Points

2011-12 Provisional Data

• In 2011-12, the total number of fires in Scotland was 32,204, this was 17 % lower than in 2010-11 (38,970). Primary fires accounted for 39 % (12,400) of the total number of fires, 58 % (18,610) were secondary fires and 4 % (1,194) were chimney fires (Table 1).
• The number of primary fires in 2011-12 decreased by 6 % from 2010-11 (from 13,198 to 12,400). There was a 23 % reduction in the number of secondary fires in 2011-12 compared to 2010-11 (Table 1).
• Almost half of primary fires in 2011-12 were in dwellings (6,149). Of these fires, 5,116 were accidental (83 %) (Tables 1 & 3).
• The provisional figure for fatal fire casualties in 2011-12 was 57 - an increase of 5 (10 %) on the revised figure of 52 for 2010-11. This is the third lowest figure in ten years (Table 2).
• There were twice as many males as females who were fatal casualties (38 and 19 respectively) in 2011-12 and 39 % of all fatal casualties were 'overcome by smoke, gas or fumes' (Table 12b).
• The provisional number of fatal casualties in dwelling fires in 2011-12 was 51 and 47 of these occurred in accidental dwelling fires. The most common source of ignition for accidental dwelling fires where a fatality occurred was 'smokers' materials and matches' which accounted for 21 (45 %) (Tables 2, 3 & 22).
• Provisionally there were 1,398 non-fatal fire casualties in 2011-12. The main injury was due to being 'overcome by smoke, gas or fumes' (539 non-fatal casualties, 39 %). Of the 1,398 non-fatal casualties, 978 occurred in accidental dwelling fires. The most common source of ignition for accidental dwelling fires when a non-fatal casualty occurred was cooking appliances, which accounted for 567 non-fatal casualties (58 %). (Tables 2, 3, 12c & 22 )
• In 2011-12, the number of accidental dwelling fires was at a ten year low of 5,116. In 17 % of these accidental dwelling fires (860), impairment due to suspected alcohol and/or drugs use was a contributory factor. From accidental dwelling fires, there were provisionally 14 fatal casualties and 292 non-fatal casualties were impairment due to suspected alcohol and/or drugs use was a contributory factor to the fire (30 %, 30 % respectively). (Tables 3, 23 & 23b).
• In 2011-12 the number of special services (non-fire related incidents) attended by Scotland's Fire and Rescue Services was 10,032. Road traffic collisions were the type of special service incident most often attended (22 %) (Table 6).
• The number of false fire alarms attended was 47,645 in 2011-12, 73 % of these were due to failure of apparatus and the majority of them occurred in other buildings (excluding dwellings). There were 1,170 special service false alarms in 2011-12 (Tables 4, 4c & 5)
• There were 19,948 deliberate primary and secondary fires in 2011-12 (64 % of all primary and secondary fires). The majority of deliberate fires were secondary fires (16,188 or 81 %) (Tables 17 &19).
• In 2011-12, there were provisionally 10 fatal casualties (20 %) and 376 non-fatal casualties (31 % ) in dwelling fires where a smoke alarm was absent (Table 20).

2010-11 Revised Data

• In 2010-11, Scotland had 10 fatal casualties per million population. Even through this rate has decreased by about a third in the last nine years, Scotland still has a higher rate than England and Wales (6.3 and 7.0 per million population respectively) (Table 10).