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Home Office

Answer

Mrs. Curtis-Thomas: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department in what percentage of cases where fire alarms were present in dwellings on fire in 1999, they (a) raised the alarm, (b) operated but failed to raise the alarm and (c) failed to operate altogether, in each fire authority area. [159770] Mr. Mike O'Brien: The information requested (shown in the table) relates to the percentage of fires in dwellings where a smoke alarm was present and where the fire was attended by the local authority fire service. Fires in dwellings by brigade and by presence and operation of smoke detectors, UK, 1999 _________________________________________________________________________________________________. Percentage of alarms present that Total number of Smoke alarm Smoke alarm Operated and Operated, but Did not operate fires in present absent raised alarm did not raise dwellings alarm United Kingdom 72,126 26,890 45,235 63 10 27 England and Wales 60,725 21,296 39,429 66 9 25 England 57,403 19,800 37,603 66 9 25 England--non-Met 29,893 11,375 18,518 64 9 27 counties Avon 960 422 538 58 14 28 Bedfordshire 429 74 354 69 18 14 Berkshire 726 308 418 80 4 16 Buckinghamshire 679 254 425 69 9 22 Cambridgeshire 547 212 334 63 16 21 Cheshire 999 382 617 61 12 27 Cleveland 836 251 585 59 10 31 Cornwall 437 149 287 66 15 19 Cumbria 609 208 401 79 6 15 Derbyshire 783 203 580 75 4 20 Devon 1,225 555 670 77 8 15 Dorset 492 180 312 68 11 21 Durham 677 174 503 70 2 28 East Sussex 1,129 430 699 60 5 35 Essex 1,220 378 842 64 8 28 Gloucestershire 521 221 299 62 8 30 Hampshire 1,487 709 778 69 9 23 Hereford and Worcester 677 290 386 72 7 20 Hertfordshire 942 445 497 83 4 13 Humberside 1,104 466 638 38 15 47 Isle of Wight 165 75 89 81 12 7 Kent 1,269 369 900 63 6 31 Lancashire 2,274 898 1,375 59 10 31 Leicestershire 733 206 527 57 9 34 Lincolnshire 520 177 344 62 12 27 Norfolk 583 157 426 54 9 38 North Yorkshire 546 264 282 54 7 39 Northamptonshire 715 407 309 70 5 26 Northumberland 309 128 181 71 5 24 Nottinghamshire 1,102 183 919 68 4 28 Oxfordshire 474 244 230 56 4 40 Shropshire 434 102 332 53 7 40 Somerset 386 174 212 55 21 24 Staffordshire 1,179 662 517 73 10 17 Suffolk 555 286 269 56 13 32 Surrey 627 224 402 58 13 29 Warwickshire 401 98 303 67 14 18 West Sussex 658 239 420 55 12 33 Wiltshire 483 166 317 54 11 36 Isles of Scilly 1 0 1 -- -- -- England--Met Counties 27,510 8,425 19,085 68 9 23 Greater Manchester 5,121 1,465 3,655 61 12 27 Merseyside 3,019 913 2,106 69 9 23 South Yorkshire 1,433 313 1,121 69 11 20 Tyne and Wear 2,241 913 1,328 87 2 12 West Midlands 4,429 2,015 2,414 70 7 23 West Yorkshire 2,504 986 1,518 54 12 34 Greater London 8,763 1,820 6,944 68 12 20 Wales 3,322 1,496 1,826 62 11 27 North Wales 827 395 432 69 9 22 Mid and West Wales 1,030 472 557 66 11 23 South Wales 1,465 628 837 54 12 34 Northern Ireland 1,990 833 1,157 54 18 28 Scotland 9,411 4,762 4,650 56 9 35 Strathclyde 4,724 2,225 2,500 64 7 29 Highland and Islands 288 200 88 35 19 46 Grampian 883 590 294 63 8 28 Tayside 794 390 403 49 13 38 Lothian and Borders 1,804 896 908 42 12 46 Fife 437 188 248 53 15 32 Central 327 197 130 52 10 39 Dumfries 154 76 78 33 14 53 _________________________________________________________________________________________________. Notes: 1999 data are provisional and based on a sample of all incidents. Including late call and heat and smoke damage incidents (not recorded prior to 1994). Source: Home Office Fire statistics

Secondary information

Type

Written question

Reference

159770; 367 c524W;367 c524-5W

Session

2000-01

Subjects

Fire and rescue services Fires Fire alarms Standards Smoke alarms

Contains statistics

Yes

Link

View this Written question on www.publications.parliament.uk