Press release: Fire deaths fall to lowest number on record

New figures released today (20 August 2015) show that fire deaths in England have continued to fall, with 6% fewer deaths than last year. This continues a trend that has seen a drop of almost a third (30%) in the last decade. There is also a similar reduction in the number of people injured in fires, which has fallen to less than half the number of casualties in 2004. This a testament to the success of fire safety campaigns and the hard work done by fire and rescue authorities around the country, and others, to increase awareness of fire safety and prevent fires from breaking out in the first place. The figures also show that last year, fire and rescue services attended 154,700 fires, the second lowest number of fire incidents ever recorded. Commenting on the figures, Fire Minister Mark Francois said:

People are safer than ever before, with deaths from fires in the home at record lows - thanks to the combined efforts of households, fire and rescue authorities, the government and business. It is great news this downward trend in fire fatalities and casualties is continuing but we must not be complacent because one death is a death too many, therefore I urge people to remain vigilant about fire safety and prevention.

The best way to protect a household from a fire is to install at least one working smoke alarm on every level of your home and then to test these monthly.

The fire statistics monitor is published annually and the figures for April 2014 to March 2015 are now available on the website.

Further information

Fire Kills is the award-winning national advertising campaign planned, developed and delivered in close partnership by the Department for Communities and Local Government and the fire and rescue authorities in England. The campaign promotes essential fire safety messages, encouraging fire safe behaviour, to drive down the number of fire-related deaths and injuries in the home. It has a primary message to promote the regular testing of smoke alarms. Regular research, insight and evaluation have enabled the campaign to become smarter and better targeted so that it continues to be effective in delivering fire safety messages.