Five-year low for fire-related injuries

Wednesday 26 July 2017

Jersey’s Fire and Rescue Service say despite a five-year high in the number of house fires they attended last year, casualties are also at a five-year low.

The Service say there were 67 house fires in 2016, but that only four people were injured. In 2015, it was seven. The number of people rescued from fires also saw a slight drop – from 13 to 12. Cooking is the largest cause of these fires followed closely by electrical.

According to the Service’s annual report, 2016 was a busy year – in all they responded to 1,201 incidents - a 12.6% increase on the previous year.

The report also says: “Responding to false alarms continues to put a strain on the service. In 2016, we responded to 492 false fire calls, up from 407 in 2015. The main reason for the increase is the growth in ownership of domestic smoke alarms. Analysis of types of false fire alarms attended shows that 298 were from commercial premises, 187 were from domestic premises and 7 were malicious public false alarms.” 


In addition to rescuing people from fires, the service also rescued 67 other people – a figure that includes sea and cliff rescues, and those stuck in lifts.

Commenting on the report, Chief Fire Officer Mark James said: “Despite the huge effort the Service undertakes to prevent fires, it is very worrying that there was a 32% increase in fires in people’s homes in 2016. We will continue to do everything we can to promote fire safety and protect people from harm which will be challenge in the coming years with reduced budgets and less firefighters. We will have to be innovative and look at new ways of working to try to carry on delivering the same level of service with fewer resources.”