While the number of London house fires has fallen since 2010, the vast majority of fire injuries still occur at home.
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Disparities in levels of house fires across the capital show that Kensington and Chelsea homes are still at risk, exclusive data reveals.
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The new statistics were released to City News following a Freedom of Information request sent to the London Fire Brigade.
The data includes all fires recorded at “domestic dwellings”, including houses and flats.
The southern boroughs of Croydon, Southwark and Lewisham have the highest number of house fires in recent years. However, when accounting for population, the highest incidents are in Westminster and Kensington and Chelsea.
Croydon consistently has the highest number of house fires in the capital, with a total of 1,049 domestic incidents between January 2019 and September 2023.
This contrasts with Kingston upon Thames, the borough with the least fires (excluding the City of London).
In general the number of fires across the city are slowly declining. However, Newham is an exception to this trend. The borough has seen incidences of domestic fires rise by 18% in three years.
London Fire Brigade’s risk management plan for the borough says Newham is at particular risk due to the high population density and multi-occupancy homes.
‘We still live in the trauma of Grenfell’
When accounting for population levels, the concentration of domestic fires shows a disparity between boroughs.
Nearly seven years on from the Grenfell tower tragedy, the borough of Kensington and Chelsea has the second highest incidences of house fires per 100,000 residents, a fraction behind Westminster.
The rates of fire per resident in Kensington and Chelsea are more than double that of Harrow.
Speaking to City News, Yvette Williams MBE from campaign group Justice for Grenfell says the findings are alarming.
She adds: “Considering Grenfell happened here, you would think that between the local authority and the fire brigade they’d be looking out for that.”
Although the number of fire incidences and fatalities in the borough are decreasing, Ms Williams raised concerns. She thinks the figures aren’t falling fast enough considering the recent memory of the 2017 tower block fire, saying, “we still live in the trauma of Grenfell”.
House fires decreasing but deadly
A 2023 study by the Hazelab fire research group at Imperial College London found that fire safety in the capital has generally improved in the past decade.
The updated data confirms this trend, with the number of deaths from house fires city-wide falling each year.
The Imperial College study warned that fires that occur in domestic settings are relatively rare, but very dangerous. In London, house fires make up 28% of all fire incidents, but lead to 87% of fire-related deaths.
The London Fire Brigade did not respond to request for comment.
Their website lists smoking as the number one cause of fire deaths, and provides fire safety advice to Londoners at home.
For Yvette Williams, fire safety education is crucial to keep communities safe. She says rolling out preventative fire education is crucial to “learn the lessons” of the tragedy Kensington witnessed in 2017.
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HeadlineExclusive: Seven years after Grenfell, Kensington and Chelsea still house fire hot spot
Short HeadlineGrenfell borough still house fire hot spot, exclusive data reveals
StandfirstData on deadly fires in the capital 'causes alarm' among campaigners.
Disparities in levels of house fires across the capital show that Kensington and Chelsea homes are still at risk, exclusive data reveals.
Listen to this Article – powered by AI:
The new statistics were released to City News following a Freedom of Information request sent to the London Fire Brigade.
The data includes all fires recorded at “domestic dwellings”, including houses and flats.
The southern boroughs of Croydon, Southwark and Lewisham have the highest number of house fires in recent years. However, when accounting for population, the highest incidents are in Westminster and Kensington and Chelsea.
Croydon consistently has the highest number of house fires in the capital, with a total of 1,049 domestic incidents between January 2019 and September 2023.
This contrasts with Kingston upon Thames, the borough with the least fires (excluding the City of London).
In general the number of fires across the city are slowly declining. However, Newham is an exception to this trend. The borough has seen incidences of domestic fires rise by 18% in three years.
London Fire Brigade’s risk management plan for the borough says Newham is at particular risk due to the high population density and multi-occupancy homes.
‘We still live in the trauma of Grenfell’
When accounting for population levels, the concentration of domestic fires shows a disparity between boroughs.
Nearly seven years on from the Grenfell tower tragedy, the borough of Kensington and Chelsea has the second highest incidences of house fires per 100,000 residents, a fraction behind Westminster.
The rates of fire per resident in Kensington and Chelsea are more than double that of Harrow.
Speaking to City News, Yvette Williams MBE from campaign group Justice for Grenfell says the findings are alarming.
She adds: “Considering Grenfell happened here, you would think that between the local authority and the fire brigade they’d be looking out for that.”
Although the number of fire incidences and fatalities in the borough are decreasing, Ms Williams raised concerns. She thinks the figures aren’t falling fast enough considering the recent memory of the 2017 tower block fire, saying, “we still live in the trauma of Grenfell”.
House fires decreasing but deadly
A 2023 study by the Hazelab fire research group at Imperial College London found that fire safety in the capital has generally improved in the past decade.
The updated data confirms this trend, with the number of deaths from house fires city-wide falling each year.
The Imperial College study warned that fires that occur in domestic settings are relatively rare, but very dangerous. In London, house fires make up 28% of all fire incidents, but lead to 87% of fire-related deaths.
The London Fire Brigade did not respond to request for comment.
Their website lists smoking as the number one cause of fire deaths, and provides fire safety advice to Londoners at home.
For Yvette Williams, fire safety education is crucial to keep communities safe. She says rolling out preventative fire education is crucial to “learn the lessons” of the tragedy Kensington witnessed in 2017.
