Fire Safety Science Digital Archive

The yearly frequency of fires in road vehicles to which the Fire Brigades were called increased from 3 700 in 1948 to 6 600 in 1953 (Fig. 1), and it is thought that there are in addition many fires in vehicles which the Fire Brigades do not attend. Serious damage to the vehicle involved is the exception rather than the rule in these fires, but there is always a risk of injury to the occupants of the vehicle, and the steadily increasing number of calls to the Fire Brigades each year, a trend which is likely to continue if no measures to reduce the fire incidence are taken, adds considerably to the work of the Fire Brigade. This report describes an investigation of reports of fires in road vehicles to which Fire Brigades were called. All the fires occurred in vehicles in the open air and the great majority were in vehicles on the road.