Fire Safety Science Digital Archive

The numbers of fies in old people's homes estimated from a 1-in-2 sample of all reports of fire attended by fire brigades, were 62 in 1961 and 82 in 1962. Of these 43 per cent were attributable to matches, smokers' materials and space heating applicances. The ignition of bedding or upholstery accounted for 21 incidents of fire in the sample, i.e. 29 per cent of the fires. In nearly one quarter of the incidents there was a late call to the fire brigade, most of them for fires which occurred between 6 a.m. and noon. There was no evidence of any definite peak period for fire incidence during the day. Three old people received fatal injuries in fires in the 1-in-2 sample of reports in 1962. There was also 1 non-fatal casualty in 1961, when a member of staff was injured in a cooking accident.