Date of Request
August 23
Request
Dear Hereford and Worcester Fire and Rescue Service,
Please supply me with data relating to fires on balconies on residential buildings in your area, as follows;
How many fires involving balconies occurred in total between 1st August 2022 and 31st July 2023?
In the same period, how many fires occurred where balconies where found to have contributed to the spread of the fire across the external walls?
Please provide data on the causes of any fires that started on balconies in the period (ie; barbecue, discarded cigarette, electrical appliance fault, etc) and please provide the number of occurrences for each cause.
If your incident recording system does not include “balcony” as a recorded location, could you please perform a search on free text fields in your database for the term, as I have found in the past that this often returns useable data.
Yours faithfully,
Response
Dear X,
Thank you for your request for incident information which has been received by Hereford and Worcester Fire and Rescue Service (the Service) and considered under the Freedom of Information Act (FOIA) 2000.
The Service can confirm the requested incident summary information is held. During the period of 01/08/2022 to 31/07/2023, the Service attended three residential fires which occurred on a balcony area. Please find the requested statistics below:
|
Year |
Property classification |
Property |
Source of ignition |
Narrative log text |
What was responsible for the spread of the fire? |
What was the extent of flame and heat damage (at stop)? |
|
2022 |
Dwelling |
Property – Building – Dwelling – Purpose Built Flat/Maisonette – multiple occupancy |
Other (smoking materials ) |
SMALL BIN FIRE WA LOCATED ON FIRST FLOOR BALCONY OF FLATS |
None |
No other property affected |
|
2022 |
Dwelling |
Purpose Built Flat/Maisonette – multiple occupancy |
Other domestic style appliance – Tumble dryer |
TUMBLE DRYER ON BALCONY |
None |
No other property affected |
|
2023 |
Other Residential |
Other holiday residence (cottage, flat, chalet) |
Naked flame – Lighted paper or card, or other naked flame |
FIRE SPREAD FROM BALCONY TO GROUND AND FIRST FLOOR |
Furniture/Furnishings – Other furniture |
Limited to 2 floors (not whole building) |
The incident report is not intended to be a line by line account of the incident but a report collated for statistical purposes produced for the Home Office detailing our attendance and initial impressions by the officer in charge. Details of the Incident Commander’s initial impressions are selected from a limited range of options available, which may or may not cover the exact circumstances of each case. This information is included within the report but it should be noted that the information is not based on a detailed investigation and should not be relied upon as evidence.
If you have any questions regarding your request, please contact Information Governance and Committee Services on tel: 0345 122 4454 or by e-mail informationrequests@hwfire.org.uk In any such communication please include the reference number assigned (see above).
Should you have any queries regarding the management of your request and wish to make either a complaint or request a review of the information disclosed to you, please do so by using Hereford & Worcester Fire and Rescue Service’s complaints system: Comments and Complaints. This must be done within 40 working days of our response to your request. After this date and in line with ICO guidance the Service is not obliged to provide an internal review of your request.
If you are not satisfied with the outcome of the internal review, you may appeal the decision by contacting the Information Commissioner, Wycliffe House, Water Lane, Wilmslow, SK9 5AF, Tel: 0303 123 1113 (alternatively 01625 545745) or E-mail: casework@ico.org.uk
Further information on Hereford & Worcester Fire and Rescue Service may be viewed at the Service’s website: www.hwfire.org.uk
Thank you for your request for information.
Kind regards,
Information Governance Team