The hazard of fires caused by wireless and television sets has been
investigated for the year 1951. The rates of incidence of such fires, attended
by the Fire Brigades in the United Kingdom during 1951, are shown in Table 1.
The rate of incidence for 1951, which is defined as the number of fires per
10,000 sets at risk during the year, is compared with corresponding rates for
the years 1947, 1948, 1949 and 1950. In order to obtain rates of incidence the
necessary assumption has been made that the number of sets at risk is the same
as the number of licences in force. The licence for a television set also
permits the use of a wireless set in the same house, so the further assumption
has been made that no household with a television set is without a wireless set.
This means that the number of television licences in force has been added to the
number of wireless licences, and the total has been considered to represent the
number of meless sets at risk. Comparison of the rates of incidence for
wireless sets calculated on this basis, with those in F.S.Note No.128/1951
shows that the change makes little difference. The number of television sets
at risk has been estimated on the same basis as previous years.
