Revealed: the everyday appliances most likely to start a fire in West Sussex

Cookers, microwaves and toasters are the domestic appliances most likely to start fires in West Sussex.
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New figures from the Home Office show that 1,293 house fires were started by a household appliance in the area between April 2012 and March last year.

More than half the incidents attended by the West Sussex Fire and Rescue Service were started by cookers, with 767 fires causing 147 deaths or casualties over the five-year period.

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The most common domestic appliances to cause fires in West Sussex between April 2012 and March 2017 were:

1) cookers, including ovens: 767 fires

2) microwave ovens: 149

3) grills and toasters: 100

4) separate rings and hot plates: 78

5) other cooking applicances: 73

The Fire Brigades Union warned that both manufacturers and householders have a duty to prevent fires caused by everyday appliances.

A spokesman for the union said: “Manufacturers have a duty to ensure the products they sell are safe for the public to use and do not pose a threat to life.

“We can all play our part in reducing fire risk by registering products with the manufacturers when we buy them, so that we are notified if there is a safety-related recall.

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“Make sure that the electrical wiring in our homes is in good order, and ensure that we have working smoke alarms and we have a plan for what to do if they go off.”

Between April 2012 and March 2017, 247 fires started by domestic appliances caused deaths or injuries.

Over 110 fires were started by faulty appliances or leads in West Sussex over the five years. Across England, such faults started over 13,000 fires.

The most common reason for fires started by appliances was misuse of the equipment, which caused 863 fires in West Sussex, and nearly 48,000 nationally.

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But the old staple of fire safety talks, chip pans, were still the cause of 132 fires in West Sussex, and over 9,000 fires nationally.

Data: https://www.gov.uk/government/statistical-data-sets/fire-statistics-data-tables