Gas explosions and fires
Dear Surrey County Council,
Please could you tell me, for each of the last five years, the number of a) gas explosions your fire crews have attended and b) fires where a gas appliance was recorded as the cause of the fire?
Thanks in advance for your time.
Yours sincerely,
Nicholas Donovan
Information request
Our reference: 1919889
Your reference: [FOI #757974 email]
Dear Nick Donovan
Freedom of Information Act 2000
RE: IR - Fire Service - Gas Explosions
Thank you for your request for information that was received on 23 May
2021
We are dealing with your request under the Freedom of Information Act
2000 and we aim to send a response by 21 June 2021.
The Freedom of Information Act 2000 may restrict the release of some or
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requested for any other reason together with the reason(s) why and details
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Yours faithfully
Helen Gilbert
Information Governance Officer
Law & Governance - Resources
Surrey County Council | Woodhatch Place | 11 Cockshot Hill | Reigate | RH2
8EF | Working from home | Contact Centre Tel no: 03456 009 009 (9am to
5pm, Monday to Friday, excluding bank holidays) | Email:
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Information request
Our reference: 1919889
Your reference: [FOI #757974 email]
Dear Nick Donovan
IR - Fire Service - Gas Explosions
Thank you for your request for information received on 23 May 2021.
Please find our response to your request below.
Please could you tell me, for each of the last five years, the number of
a) gas explosions your fire crews have attended and
Between January 2016 and May 2021 Surrey Fire and Rescue Service attended
12 incidents.
2016 - 1
2017 - 2
2018 - 2
2019 - 2
2020 - 5
2021 - 0
b) fires where a gas appliance was recorded as the cause of the fire?
Please be advised that we were unable to identify any incident that would
match your request, therefore please see all the categories below that
were relevant to gas fires:
Main Causes of Fires 2016 2017 2018 2019 2020 Grand Total
Accumulation of flammable material 0 0 0 0 1 1
Bomb/incendiary device 0 0 0 1 0 1
Careless handling - due to knocking 1 1 0 0 0 2
over
Combustible articles too close to 0 0 1 0 1 2
heat source (or fire)
Faulty fuel supply - gas 0 0 0 1 2 3
Negligent use of equipment or 0 0 0 0 1 1
appliance (heat source)
Other 0 0 1 0 0 1
Suicide/attempted: setting fire to 0 1 0 0 0 1
self
Grand Total 1 2 2 2 5 12
Yours faithfully
Business Support Officer
Surrey Fire & Rescue
Surrey County Council | Woodhatch Place | 11 Cockshot Hill | Reigate | RH2
8EF | Working from home | Contact Centre Tel no: 03456 009 009 (9am to
5pm, Monday to Friday, excluding bank holidays) | | Email:
[email address]
NOTE: Please do not edit the subject line when replying to this email.
Surrey County Council
This email contains proprietary confidential information some or all of
which may be legally privileged and/or subject to the provisions of
privacy legislation. It is intended solely for the addressee.
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Dear Surrey County Council,
Thank you very much for your answer. Would it please be possible to look again at the data for part B of my request - using the example of how most other forces have answered the request? I'd be very grateful.
For part B many forces have responded by extracting from the national Incident Recording System (IRS). For example N Wales said of their data:
" Answer b) The cause of fire is only recorded for 'Primary' fires.
We have used IRS question 8.5 - What powered the ignition? and selected categories 'Gas - Mains' and 'Gas - Cylinder' to answer the question."
"Definitions:
Primary Fire - includes all reportable fires in non-derelict buildings, vehicles and outdoor structures or any fire involving casualties, rescues, or fires attended by five or more appliances."
Warwickshire meanwhile specified that "Please note: The figures above relate to fire incidents where the ignition power source is gas. The ignition source (or appliance) itself varies and includes the following objects
/ appliances listed below:
Blow lamp / Paint remover.
Blow torch.
Butane cylinder.
Cooker incl. oven.
Cooking appliance - Barbeque.
Cooking appliance - Camping stove.
Cooking appliance - Cooker incl. oven.
Cooking appliance - Deep fat fryer.
Cooking appliance - Grill / Toaster.
Cooking appliance - Other cooking appliance.
Cooking appliance - Ring / Hotplate (separate appliance).
Deep fat fryer.
Gas operator weed wand.
Grill / Toaster.
Heating equipment - Food warming equipment (not cooking).
Heating equipment - Heating / Fire.
Heating equipment - Other heating equipment.
Industrial equipment - Kiln / Oven / Furnace.
Industrial equipment - Manufacturing equipment.
Industrial equipment - Welding / Cutting equipment.
LPG burner.
Other domestic style appliance - Blow lamp / Paint remover.
Other domestic style appliance - Fridge / Freezer.
Other heating equipment.
Perchloroethylene.
Welding / Cutting equipment."
Yours sincerely,
Nick Donovan
Dear Mr Donovan,
Thank you very much for your email.
As per your request I have contacted our Data Analyst and requested a
second search to provide the data you’ve requested.
My apologies for the missing this information off previously.
Please see below all that we were able to source for you to cover question
b:
b) Please could you tell me, for each of the last five years, the number
of fires where a gas appliance was recorded as the cause of the fire?
+-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------+
|All gas related fires |
|-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------|
|All gas | | | | | | | | | | | | | |
|related |Jan |Feb |Mar |Apr |May |Jun |Jul |Aug |Sep |Oct |Nov |Dec |Total |
|fires | | | | | | | | | | | | | |
|---------+-----+-----+-----+-----+-----+-----+-----+-----+-----+-----+-----+-----+-------|
|2016 |6 |4 |5 |10 |5 |5 |2 |9 |13 |3 |11 |5 |78 |
|---------+-----+-----+-----+-----+-----+-----+-----+-----+-----+-----+-----+-----+-------|
|2017 |5 |5 |7 |10 |11 |9 |8 |6 |6 |6 |7 |5 |85 |
|---------+-----+-----+-----+-----+-----+-----+-----+-----+-----+-----+-----+-----+-------|
|2018 |7 |11 |5 |10 |4 |10 |8 |4 |7 |6 |3 |8 |83 |
|---------+-----+-----+-----+-----+-----+-----+-----+-----+-----+-----+-----+-----+-------|
|2019 |7 |8 |9 |10 |5 |0 |6 |6 |4 |5 |4 |4 |68 |
|---------+-----+-----+-----+-----+-----+-----+-----+-----+-----+-----+-----+-----+-------|
|2020 |2 |2 |3 |7 |9 |7 |2 |3 |3 |7 |3 |4 |52 |
|---------+-----+-----+-----+-----+-----+-----+-----+-----+-----+-----+-----+-----+-------|
|Total |27 |30 |29 |47 |34 |31 |26 |28 |33 |27 |28 |26 |366 |
+-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------+
+------------------------------------------------------------------------+
| Property categories |
|------------------------------------------------------------------------|
| Property categories | 2016 | 2017 | 2018 | 2019 | 2020 | Total |
|------------------------+-------+-------+-------+-------+-------+-------|
| Dwelling | 58 | 64 | 66 | 55 | 34 | 277 |
|------------------------+-------+-------+-------+-------+-------+-------|
| NonResidential | 8 | 11 | 11 | 9 | 9 | 48 |
|------------------------+-------+-------+-------+-------+-------+-------|
| OutdoorStructure | 4 | 4 | 1 | 2 | 3 | 14 |
|------------------------+-------+-------+-------+-------+-------+-------|
| OtherResidential | 3 | 5 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 10 |
|------------------------+-------+-------+-------+-------+-------+-------|
| RoadVehicle | 4 | 0 | 1 | 2 | 1 | 8 |
|------------------------+-------+-------+-------+-------+-------+-------|
| Outdoor | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 5 | 6 |
|------------------------+-------+-------+-------+-------+-------+-------|
| Boat | 0 | 1 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 3 |
|------------------------+-------+-------+-------+-------+-------+-------|
| Total | 78 | 85 | 83 | 68 | 52 | 366 |
+------------------------------------------------------------------------+
+------------------------------------------------------------------------+
| Appliances type |
|------------------------------------------------------------------------|
| Ignition appliances type | 2016 | 2017 | 2018 | 2019 | 2020 | Total |
|-----------------------------+------+------+------+------+------+-------|
| Cooking appliance | 62 | 64 | 66 | 53 | 35 | 280 |
|-----------------------------+------+------+------+------+------+-------|
| Heating equipment | 5 | 5 | 4 | 8 | 7 | 29 |
|-----------------------------+------+------+------+------+------+-------|
| Industrial equipment | 2 | 6 | 7 | 2 | 5 | 22 |
|-----------------------------+------+------+------+------+------+-------|
| Other domestic style | 6 | 5 | 3 | 3 | 1 | 18 |
| appliance | | | | | | |
|-----------------------------+------+------+------+------+------+-------|
| Not known | 3 | 5 | 1 | 2 | 4 | 15 |
|-----------------------------+------+------+------+------+------+-------|
| Electricity supply | 0 | 0 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 2 |
|-----------------------------+------+------+------+------+------+-------|
| Total | 78 | 85 | 83 | 68 | 52 | 366 |
+------------------------------------------------------------------------+
+------------------------------------------------------------------------+
| Ingnition source |
|------------------------------------------------------------------------|
| Ingnition source | 2016 | 2017 | 2018 | 2019 | 2020 | Total |
|-----------------------------+------+------+------+------+------+-------|
| Cooker incl. oven | 41 | 40 | 47 | 33 | 18 | 179 |
|-----------------------------+------+------+------+------+------+-------|
| Ring/hot plate (separate | 14 | 13 | 15 | 16 | 9 | 67 |
| appliance) | | | | | | |
|-----------------------------+------+------+------+------+------+-------|
| Grill/Toaster | 5 | 9 | 3 | 3 | 3 | 23 |
|-----------------------------+------+------+------+------+------+-------|
| Blow lamp/Paint remover | 6 | 4 | 2 | 3 | 1 | 16 |
|-----------------------------+------+------+------+------+------+-------|
| Welding/Cutting equipment | 2 | 3 | 5 | 2 | 3 | 15 |
|-----------------------------+------+------+------+------+------+-------|
| Central heating/Hot water | 2 | 3 | 1 | 6 | 2 | 14 |
|-----------------------------+------+------+------+------+------+-------|
| Other | 3 | 5 | 1 | 2 | 2 | 13 |
|-----------------------------+------+------+------+------+------+-------|
| Heating/Fire | 2 | 1 | 3 | 1 | 3 | 10 |
|-----------------------------+------+------+------+------+------+-------|
| Barbecue | 0 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 3 | 5 |
|-----------------------------+------+------+------+------+------+-------|
| Camping stove | 2 | 1 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 4 |
|-----------------------------+------+------+------+------+------+-------|
| Dryer | 0 | 3 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 3 |
|-----------------------------+------+------+------+------+------+-------|
| Kiln, oven, furnace | 0 | 0 | 2 | 0 | 1 | 3 |
|-----------------------------+------+------+------+------+------+-------|
| Not known | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 3 | 3 |
|-----------------------------+------+------+------+------+------+-------|
| Separate water heating | 0 | 1 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 2 |
|-----------------------------+------+------+------+------+------+-------|
| Other heating equipment | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 2 | 2 |
|-----------------------------+------+------+------+------+------+-------|
| Other cooking appliance | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 2 | 2 |
|-----------------------------+------+------+------+------+------+-------|
| Fridge/Freezer | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 1 |
|-----------------------------+------+------+------+------+------+-------|
| Patio equipment | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 |
|-----------------------------+------+------+------+------+------+-------|
| Wiring, cabling, plugs | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 1 |
|-----------------------------+------+------+------+------+------+-------|
| Gardening equipment | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 |
|-----------------------------+------+------+------+------+------+-------|
| Apparatus - batteries, | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 1 |
| generators | | | | | | |
|-----------------------------+------+------+------+------+------+-------|
| Total | 78 | 85 | 83 | 68 | 52 | 366 |
+------------------------------------------------------------------------+
+------------------------------------------------------------------------+
| Main cause of fire |
|------------------------------------------------------------------------|
| Main cause of fire | 2016 | 2017 | 2018 | 2019 | 2020 | Total |
|-----------------------------+------+------+------+------+------+-------|
| Cooking - other cooking | 29 | 37 | 37 | 23 | 20 | 146 |
|-----------------------------+------+------+------+------+------+-------|
| Combustible articles too | | | | | | |
| close to heat source (or | 12 | 15 | 13 | 14 | 10 | 64 |
| fire) | | | | | | |
|-----------------------------+------+------+------+------+------+-------|
| Negligent use of equipment | 11 | 11 | 7 | 6 | 6 | 41 |
| or appliance (heat source) | | | | | | |
|-----------------------------+------+------+------+------+------+-------|
| Cooking - chip pan/deep fat | 6 | 4 | 5 | 9 | 1 | 25 |
| fryer | | | | | | |
|-----------------------------+------+------+------+------+------+-------|
| Faulty fuel supply - gas | 5 | 3 | 3 | 1 | 5 | 17 |
|-----------------------------+------+------+------+------+------+-------|
| Fault in equipment or | 3 | 5 | 3 | 4 | 1 | 16 |
| appliance | | | | | | |
|-----------------------------+------+------+------+------+------+-------|
| Accumulation of flammable | 1 | 2 | 4 | 2 | 2 | 11 |
| material | | | | | | |
|-----------------------------+------+------+------+------+------+-------|
| Other intentional burning, | 1 | 2 | 3 | 1 | 1 | 8 |
| going out of control | | | | | | |
|-----------------------------+------+------+------+------+------+-------|
| Other | 1 | 1 | 1 | 3 | 1 | 7 |
|-----------------------------+------+------+------+------+------+-------|
| Overheating, unknown cause | 2 | 1 | 1 | 2 | 1 | 7 |
|-----------------------------+------+------+------+------+------+-------|
| Careless handling - due to | 1 | 0 | 3 | 2 | 1 | 7 |
| sleep or unconsciousness | | | | | | |
|-----------------------------+------+------+------+------+------+-------|
| Heat source and | | | | | | |
| combustibles brought | 3 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 2 | 6 |
| together deliberately | | | | | | |
|-----------------------------+------+------+------+------+------+-------|
| Careless handling - due to | 2 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 3 |
| careless disposal | | | | | | |
|-----------------------------+------+------+------+------+------+-------|
| Person too close to heat | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 1 | 2 |
| source (or fire) | | | | | | |
|-----------------------------+------+------+------+------+------+-------|
| Suicide/attempted: setting | 0 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 2 |
| fire to self | | | | | | |
|-----------------------------+------+------+------+------+------+-------|
| Natural occurrence | 1 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 2 |
|-----------------------------+------+------+------+------+------+-------|
| Careless handling - due to | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 1 |
| knocking over | | | | | | |
|-----------------------------+------+------+------+------+------+-------|
| Faulty fuel supply - petrol | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 |
| product | | | | | | |
|-----------------------------+------+------+------+------+------+-------|
| Total | 78 | 85 | 83 | 68 | 52 | 366 |
+------------------------------------------------------------------------+
+-------------------------------------------------+
| Was gas explosion involved? (Yes/No/Don’t know) |
|-------------------------------------------------|
| Was gas explosion involved? | Incident count |
|--------------------------------+----------------|
| No | 358 |
|--------------------------------+----------------|
| Cooking appliance | 278 |
|--------------------------------+----------------|
| Heating equipment | 28 |
|--------------------------------+----------------|
| Industrial equipment | 21 |
|--------------------------------+----------------|
| Other domestic style appliance | 17 |
|--------------------------------+----------------|
| Not known | 14 |
|--------------------------------+----------------|
| Yes | 6 |
|--------------------------------+----------------|
| Electricity supply | 2 |
|--------------------------------+----------------|
| Not known | 1 |
|--------------------------------+----------------|
| Other domestic style appliance | 1 |
|--------------------------------+----------------|
| Cooking appliance | 1 |
|--------------------------------+----------------|
| Industrial equipment | 1 |
|--------------------------------+----------------|
| Unknown/inconclusive | 2 |
|--------------------------------+----------------|
| Heating equipment | 1 |
|--------------------------------+----------------|
| Cooking appliance | 1 |
|--------------------------------+----------------|
| Total | 366 |
+-------------------------------------------------+
Yours faithfully
Business Support Officer
Surrey Fire & Rescue
Surrey County Council | Woodhatch Place | 11 Cockshot Hill | Reigate | RH2
8EF | Working from home | Contact Centre Tel no: 03456 009 009 (9am to
5pm, Monday to Friday, excluding bank holidays) | | Email:
[1][email address]
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