The page was updated in December 2024
Thousands of homes in the UK are devastated yearly by house fires. This article delves into the latest statistics on house fires, highlighting the risks, common causes, and peak times for these devastating events.
All data is sourced directly from the most recent Fire and Rescue Services data tables and refers exclusively to dwelling fires. A dwelling is a building or part of a building that people live in, including houses, apartments, flats, and maisonettes. In this article, all dwellings are referred to as houses.
Key house fire statistics
There are more than 34,000 house fires in the UK per year.
This equates to approximately 93 house fires per day, or one house fire every 15 minutes.
The number of house fires has almost halved in the past 20 years.
Cooking appliances are the leading cause of house fires.
More than 200 people in England die in house fires each year.
Cigarette fires claim more lives than any other fire type.
63% of house fires are preventable accidents.
How many fires are there in the UK each year?
In the last five years, fire and rescue services have responded to an average of 34,136 house fires per year.
This equates to approximately 93 fires per day, or one house fire every 15 minutes.
| Year | Total house fires in Great Britain |
|---|---|
| 2013/14 | 39,145 |
| 2014/15 | 38,719 |
| 2015/16 | 38,825 |
| 2016/17 | 37,753 |
| 2017/18 | 37,752 |
| 2018/19 | 36,299 |
| 2019/20 | 35,024 |
| 2020/21 | 33,183 |
| 2021/22 | 33,393 |
| 2022/23 | 32,682 |
House fires attended in the past 10 years
How common are house fires across the UK?
House fires are decreasing on the whole, with incidents down 13% compared with 5 years ago, 20% vs 10 years ago, and 47% vs 20 years ago.
Across Great Britain, house fires occur at a rate of 498 fires per 1m people. Put another way, in a region with a population of 1 million, nearly 500 homes catch fire yearly.
This number varies across countries, as shown below:
| England | Scotland | Wales | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Total house fires per year per 1m people | 470 | 790 | 492 |
What are the biggest causes of house fires?
By far, the biggest cause of house fires in the UK is cooking appliances, accounting for 44% of all fires.
| Cause of fire | Incidents | % of total |
|---|---|---|
| Cooking appliances | 10,176 | 44% |
| Electrical distribution | 3,148 | 14% |
| Other electrical appliances | 2,658 | 12% |
| Smoking-related materials | 1,522 | 7% |
| Matches & candles | 926 | 4% |
| Space heating appliances | 761 | 3% |
| Central and water heating appliances | 177 | 1% |
| Cigarette lighters | 149 | 1% |
| Matches | 117 | 1% |
| Blowlamps, welding and cutting equipment | 106 | 0% |
| Unspecified | 3,268 | 14% |
Causes of house fires in England in 2023/24
What percentage of house fires are caused by people?
63% of accidental house fires in England are caused by human error.
| Cause of fire | Percentage of total |
|---|---|
| Human factors | 63% |
| Non-human factors | 27% |
| Other factors | 10% |
Causes of accidental fires in England by human or non-human factors in 2023/24
(Human factors e.g. accumulation of flammable material, bonfire going out of control, careless handling, combustible articles too close to heat source, or cooking.
Non-human factors e.g. chimney fire, fault in equipment or appliance, faulty fuel supplies and Faulty leads to equipment or appliance.
Other or unspecified factors e.g. natural occurrence or unknown cause)
When do most house fires occur in the UK?
House fires are most common between the hours of 6 pm and 8 pm and occur most frequently in June & December.
Conversely, fires are least common between the hours of 4 am and 6 am, and in February.
How many deaths are caused by fire each year in the UK?
Around 200 people die in house fires in England every year.
| Year | Fire-related deaths |
|---|---|
| 2016/17 | 216 |
| 2017/18 | 263 |
| 2018/19 | 198 |
| 2019/20 | 198 |
| 2020/21 | 184 |
| 2021/22 | 209 |
| 2022/23 | 212 |
| 2023/24 | 180 |
| Year ending June 2023 | 220 |
| Year ending June 2024 | 178 |
House fire-related fatalities in England in the past 10 years
Accidental fires started by smoking materials such as cigarettes kill more people than any other type of fire.
| Source of fire | Number of deaths | Percentage of total |
|---|---|---|
| Smokers’ materials | 74 | 28% |
| Cooking appliances | 19 | 7% |
| Electrical distribution | 18 | 7% |
| Cigarette lighters | 14 | 5% |
| Space heating appliances | 12 | 5% |
| Candles | 12 | 5% |
| Other electrical appliances | 10 | 4% |
| Matches | 7 | 3% |
| Other / Unspecified | 99 | 37% |
House fire-related deaths by the source of ignition in England in 2022/23
For more information visit www.gov.uk/government/fire-prevention-and-rescue
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