Economic Costs of Fire

• NCJ Number: 191602
• Author(s): Mark Weiner
• Date Published: October 2001
• Length: 46 pages
• Sale Source: Great Britain Home Office Research Development and Statistics Directorate
• Publication Format: Document
• Publication Type: Report (Study/Research)
• Language: English
• Country: United Kingdom
• Note: Home Office Research Study 229; downloaded 11/08/2001.

Annotation

This document provides the economic costs of fire, including the average costs of different types of fire, categorized by location and cost type.

Abstract

The Home Office previously estimated the cost of fire in England and Wales in 1993 to be around 4.5bn. This demonstrates the size of the impact of fire, but provides little information on the relative impacts of different categories of fire. Decisions are being made continually on how to reduce the impact of fire. However, it is difficult to assess which measures are the most cost effective if the benefit of the reduction in fire cannot be assessed. The aim of this research was to develop estimates of the cost per fire for different types of fire, for use in policy appraisals. This would allow fire policy to follow criminal policy and the crime reduction program in quantifying and comparing the costs and benefits of policy interventions. The costs of fire have been estimated using a variety of sources and assumptions. Although there is room for development and improvement, these estimates can indicate the scale of impacts of different types of fire and the potential benefits associated with fire reduction measures. The average cost of commercial fires was estimated to be 63,600 pounds compared to 21,500 pounds for domestic fires. However, the cost of casualties was far higher in domestic fires. The least expensive fires were outdoor secondary and chimney fires at 1,100 per fire. The total cost of fire was estimated to be 6.9bn with commercial fires accounting for over 40 percent of this. Costs “in anticipation of fire” accounted for over 3.3bn, with costs “as a consequence” of fire adding a further 2.5bn, and the cost of the Fire Service responding to fire accounting for the remaining 1bn. The cost of malicious fires was estimated to be 1.2bn, excluding the cost of fire protection. This may be an underestimate since it assumes that the average cost of malicious fires is the same as accidental fires in the same location. It is clear that malicious fires account for a significant proportion of the total cost of fire with the exception of property losses, which are assumed to be 15 percent higher. 6 tables, appendix, bibliography