Fire fatalities beyond the dwelling of fire origin in Scotland

A review was performed, of historical data supplied by the Scottish Fire and Rescue service from the Incident Recording System (IRS), of 57,325 fatal and non-fatal incidents over the 14-year period from 01/04/2009 to 24/04/2023 for specific building types. Over that period, there were 291 for those building types and the data from these incidents were analysed further to investigate whether any of the fires involving external cladding were also fatal fires. Additional information was also gathered about the fires including fatalities, injuries, property types and the extent of damage.

Of the 291 fire fatalities associated with the buildings covered in this study there were 105 fire fatalities that were of interest as some occurred beyond the floor of fire origin or beyond the room of fire origin or were not clear but required more detailed information than that available through IRS reports. The fire fatalities of interest were investigated further by analysing the associated fire investigation reports which contain significantly more detailed and reliable information.

It was observed that, for fatal fires, the majority (80%) originated in one of three key areas - the bedroom, kitchen or living room. Most fatalities occurred in the bedroom (42%) with 15% taking place in the hallway inside the flat and 10% in the bathroom.

There was no evidence in the reviewed fire investigation reports that external cladding had contributed to the spread of fire beyond the room of fire origin or contributed to the spread of fire beyond the flat of fire origin.