Data on balcony fires, in terms of quantity and causes

The request was successful.

Dear Avon Fire and Rescue,

Please supply me with data relating to fires on balconies on residential buildings in your area, as follows;

• How many balcony fires occurred in the prior three years (2017 to 2020)? Please provide gross total and also breakdown by year.
• How many building fires occurred where balconies contributed to the external spread of the fire?
• The ratio breakdown of identified/suspected causes of these balcony fires (ie; barbecue, discarded cigarette, etc).

Yours faithfully,

Stephen Cole

Freedom of Information Act & Data Protection Requests, Avon Fire and Rescue

1 Attachment

Dear Mr Cole

 

I write to acknowledge your email dated 10.08.2020 requesting information
regarding balcony fires.

 

Your request has been assigned reference number 2020T47; please can you
quote this in any contact with us about this matter.

 

The statutory timescale to respond to requests processed under the terms
of the Freedom of Information Act (FoIA) 2000 is 20 working days however,
there may be a delay due to the current COVID-19 situation.  We will keep
you updated regarding the progress of your request at the earliest
opportunity. The Information Commissioner recognises that longer time may
be needed as we have to prioritise other work to keep services running
during this challenging period. Avon Fire & Rescue Service would like to
thank you for your patience.

 

Please note that all requests dealt under the FoIA are subject to the
information not being exempt or containing a reference to a third party.

 

Guidance about how we deal with requests for information can be located on
our [1]website. Thank you for your interest in Avon Fire & Rescue Service.

 

Kind regards
 

Joanna Warren
Data Protection Co-ordinator (Mon-Thurs), Corporate Services
Avon Fire & Rescue Service
Telephone: 0117 926 2061 Extension: 302
[mobile number]
[2]www.avonfire.gov.uk
Working smoke alarms save lives
Help save a tree - please do not print this email unless you really need
to.
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Freedom of Information Act & Data Protection Requests, Avon Fire and Rescue

1 Attachment

Dear Mr Cole

 

I write in response to your request for information dated 10.08.2020
concerning data on balcony fires, in terms of quantity and causes.

 

Your request for information has been dealt with under the terms of the
Freedom of Information Act 2000 (FoIA) and I can confirm that Avon Fire &
Rescue Service holds most of the information falling within the
description specified within your request for:

 

 

Please supply me with data relating to fires on balconies on residential
buildings in your area, as follows;

•       How many balcony fires occurred in the prior three years (2017 to
2020)? Please provide gross total and also breakdown by year. 

 

The below is where we have been able to identify the room of origin for
the fire as a balcony / external structure:

 

+------------------------------------------------------------------------+
|Year |2017 |2018 |2019 |2020 |Total |
|---------------------------+--------+--------+--------+--------+--------|
|Number of balcony fires |1 |0 |5 |0 |6 |
+------------------------------------------------------------------------+

 

•       How many building fires occurred where balconies contributed to
the external spread of the fire? 

 

We do not hold this data for the number of building fires, however of the
incidents that we could identify where the origin of the fire started on
the balcony, below are the incident numbers for you to check against our
published incident data on our website
[1]https://www.avonfire.gov.uk/our-performa... for each
given financial year. We have also extracted the main action by the FRS,
which is below.

 

005431-15062017 -  Other sources -> Hosereel (high pressure) (HRJ)  - tank
supply only

002376-04052019  - None -> No firefighting. Including out on arrival

002403-05052019 -  Small means -> Water ? from bucket/containers

005231-17062019  - None -> No firefighting. Including out on arrival

006754-08072019 - Other sources -> Hosereel (high pressure) (HRJ)  - tank
supply only

016808-03122019 - None -> No firefighting. Including out on arrival

•       The ratio breakdown of identified/suspected causes of these
balcony fires (ie; barbecue, discarded cigarette, etc)  

 

Source of ignition is recorded as:

 

2 are recorded as Smoking Related -> Smoking materials

2 are recorded as Matches and candles -> Matches

2 are recorded as Other (solar fairy light) or Not Known

 

 

I hope that you find the above information useful.

 

Guidance about how we deal with requests for information can be located on
our [2]website. AF&RS retain request correspondence for the current
financial year plus 3 years.

 

If you are unhappy with the way your request for information has been
handled, you can request an internal review by contacting the :

 

Data Protection Officer

Avon Fire & Rescue Service

Police & Fire HQ

PO Box 37

Valley Road

Portishead

North Somerset

BS20 8JJ

 

Telephone 0117 9262061, or by emailing [3][Avon Fire and Rescue request email].

 

If you are subsequently dissatisfied with the outcome of the internal
review, you will have the right of appeal to the Information Commissioner
by contacting the :

 

The Information Commissioner’s Office

Wycliffe House

Water Lane

Wilmslow

Cheshire

SK9 5AF

 

Telephone 0303 123 1113 (local rate) or 01625 545 745

 

Website [4]www.ico.org.uk.

 

There is no charge for making an appeal.

 

The ICO has also published a document about their regulatory approach
during the COVID-19 situation:
[5]https://ico.org.uk/media/about-the-ico/p...

 

 

Thank you for your interest in Avon Fire & Rescue Service.

 

Kind regards

 

 

Joanna Warren
Data Protection Co-ordinator (Mon-Thurs), Corporate Services
Avon Fire & Rescue Service
Telephone: 0117 926 2061 Extension: 302
[mobile number]
[6]www.avonfire.gov.uk
Working smoke alarms save lives
Help save a tree - please do not print this email unless you really need
to.
[7]cid:image001.jpg@01D6754C.F163C460

 

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