Fire injury analysis

• Published in: Fire and materials Vol. 46; no. 6; pp. 888 - 895
• Main Authors: Taylor, Mark, Appleton, Deb, Fielding, John, Oakford, Gary
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: Bognor Regis Wiley Subscription Services, Inc 01-10-2022
• Subjects: analysis; Deprivation; Females; fire; Injuries; injury; Injury analysis; Males; Young adults
• ISSN: 0308-0501; 1099-1018
• DOI: 10.1002/fam.3036

Summary
In this paper, we examine unintentional dwelling fire injuries during the period 2006 to 2016 in Merseyside, in the North West of England. Overall, it appeared that deprivation was a significant factor in unintentional fire injuries over the period studied, with 52% of fire injuries occurring in areas with the highest level of deprivation. Males and females appeared equally likely to be injured in an unintentional dwelling fire, however, males were twice as likely to be injured in an alcohol and drug‐related fire incident, or injured attempting to fight a dwelling fire than females. In terms of the age profile of those injured in unintentional dwelling fires, the group with the highest level of fire injuries was the elderly (29% of injuries), followed by those aged 25 to 45 (28% of injuries), then those aged 45 to 65 (23% of injuries), then young persons (aged up to 24) (20% of injuries).