UK Home Fire Trends: Fewer Deaths, New Battery Risks

Firefighters and a fire engine at a smoke-filled house fire in Newport, Wales
File photo: firefighters tackling a house fire on Royal Exchange Road, Newport, Wales. Photo: Editor5807 via Wikimedia Commons, CC BY 3.0.
Deaths down, batteries upUpdated 4 October 2026

Trend summary

  • Britain has far fewer home fires than it did a decade ago, and fewer people die in them. The worry now is a new kind of fire, not more of the old kind.
  • In England, fire services attended 26,180 dwelling fires in the year to March 2026: up 2.8% on the year before, but 17% lower than ten years earlier.
  • 184 people died in those fires, down 14% from 214. Home fires still account for about seven in ten of all fire deaths.
  • Lithium-ion batteries in e-bikes and e-scooters are the fastest-growing cause: London Fire Brigade attended a record 206 such fires in 2025.
26,180dwelling fires, England, year to March 2026
184dwelling fire deaths, England (−14%)
27%of accidental dwelling fire deaths caused by smoking materials
206e-bike and e-scooter fires in London, 2025 (record)

What the numbers show

Fire statistics in England moved from the Home Office to the Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government (MHCLG) in 2025. Its annual analysis for the year ending March 2026 counts 26,180 dwelling fires, 184 deaths and 4,898 non-fatal casualties (up 3.9%). Across all fires, 254 people died, 9.3% fewer than the year before and 17% fewer than a decade earlier.

Scotland tells a similar story. The Scottish Fire and Rescue Service recorded 4,104 accidental dwelling fires in 2024-25, a record low and 26% fewer than in 2014-15, with 36 fire-related deaths.

What is driving it

Cooking is the commonest cause and smoking the deadliest. In England, cooking appliances started 42% of accidental dwelling fires but caused 11% of the deaths, while smoking materials started just 7.6% of fires and caused 27% of the deaths. Smoke alarms are common but not reliable: in 42% of dwelling fires an alarm was either missing (23%) or failed to go off (19%). And age matters: 40% of fire deaths were people aged 65 and over.

The new factor is batteries. The Office for Product Safety and Standards was told of 211 e-bike and e-scooter fires in 2024, with 8 deaths and 86 injuries; about two-thirds happened in homes and 39% while charging. OPSS points to non-compliant batteries, mismatched chargers and DIY conversion kits, which were involved in 45% of e-bike fires.

Recent cases

  • 19 August 2026: MHCLG reports that dwelling fire deaths in England fell 14% to 184 in the year to March 2026, even though the number of dwelling fires rose 2.8% (MHCLG).
  • 28 January 2026: London Fire Brigade reports a record 206 e-bike and e-scooter fires in 2025, about one every other day, and calls for new product rules (LFB).
  • 21 July 2025: the government announces new duties on online marketplaces selling unsafe products, citing an e-bike or e-scooter fire every 1.7 days (GOV.UK).

Press releases and official reports, 2023–2026

Five key releases a year for the last four years, newest first. Most come from UK government departments, regulators, accident investigators and national statistics; a few news reports are included where they are the clearest public record of an event. Releases from 2007–2022 are in the expandable list after 2023.

2026

2025

2024

2023

View 20 years of major UK home fire press releases (2007–2026)65 more from 2007–2022, up to five a year, newest first

2022

2021

2020

2019

2018

2017

2016

2015

2014

2013

2012

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2010

Some early years list fewer than five items. Many UK government releases from that period are no longer online at their original addresses, and we only list items we could open and check.

Photo list

Round white smoke detector on a ceiling
File photo: a ceiling-mounted smoke detector. Photo: Georg Pik via Wikimedia Commons, public domain.
Red fire engine of North Yorkshire Fire and Rescue Service parked in a village street
File photo: a North Yorkshire Fire and Rescue Service engine at Aiskew. Photo: The joy of all things via Wikimedia Commons, CC0.

Related on ROR Labs

How this page is built. Figures come from the official statistical releases linked above; where agencies publish provisional numbers we say so, because they are revised. UK statistics are often published separately for England, Wales, Scotland and Northern Ireland, so we say which area each figure covers. Photos are public-domain, Creative Commons or Open Government Licence images credited in each caption; file photos are illustrative and are not from the events described unless the caption says so. This page tracks trends and is not personal safety, medical, legal or financial advice.