Justice Analytical Services (JAS): Safer Communities and Justice Statistics Monthly Data Report: February 2023 edition

Further detail on fire statistics

There were 324 deliberate building fires in quarter 2 of 2022-23, up from 273 in the same quarter of 2021-22. Over the same period, the number of deliberate road vehicle fires fell from 211 to 197. There has been a long-term downward trend in deliberate building and deliberate road vehicle fires since this series began.

The figures used in this chart are the average of the quarter in question and the three quarters prior, in order to allow for seasonal variation.

Unwanted fire alarm signals (UFAS) describe avoidable false alarm signals from a workplace, either from an automatic fire alarm or from a person. There were 8,288 UFAS incidents in quarter 2 of 2022-23, which made up 30% of all incidents attended in that quarter. This was down from 32% of all incidents attended in the equivalent quarter of 2021-22. The Covid-19 pandemic could have influenced the previous year's figures as home working was encouraged and less people were working in offices at that time. Less people in workplace buildings meant there was less likelihood of an unwanted signal being triggered.