Fires in the home

What it is

Most fires in the home start by accident. Be Ready says cooking accidents are the main cause, faulty electrical appliances cause thousands of fires a year, and smoking and candles cause more. The people most at risk are older adults, people who live alone, people who smoke and drink at home, and people with disabilities, mobility problems or mental health conditions.

What it does to a home

Fire spreads fastest when nobody is awake, so Be Ready gives a bedtime routine. Close inside doors to stop a fire spreading. Turn off and unplug appliances not designed to stay on, unlike a freezer. Check the cooker is off. Do not leave the washing machine or dryer running. Turn heaters off and put up fireguards. Put candles and cigarettes out properly. Keep exits clear and keep door and window keys where everyone can find them.

Sockets should not be overloaded, and loose or dangerous wiring should be looked for. Charging devices, including e-bikes and e-scooters, belongs away from the escape route. In winter, portable heaters near curtains and clothes are a particular risk, and the cold weather page covers carbon monoxide alarms and Gas Safe checks. Candles are safer still if a torch replaces them in a power cut.

If you have or look after children, teach them how fires start and what to do, more than once. Let them hear the smoke alarm during the monthly test. Practise stop, drop and roll: stop, do not run; drop to the floor; roll to make it harder for flames to spread. Keep children out of the kitchen while cooking, turn pan handles inwards and keep matches out of reach. The government publishes a fire safety leaflet for parents and carers, and Staywise has resources and games for children.

Who warns you

Your own smoke alarms. There is no outside warning for a fire inside your home. The Fire Kills campaign publishes home fire safety advice, and gov.uk collects fire safety guidance for different groups and seasons. The Scottish Fire and Rescue Service and the Northern Ireland Fire and Rescue Service publish their own guidance, and in Wales the local fire and rescue service offers a free home safety check.

If your home is close to other properties, alert the neighbours as you leave.

How the government assesses it

The National Risk Register 2025 carries a risk called major fire. Fires can start from accidents such as electrical faults, from human activity that brings ignition and fuel together, from arson, from infrastructure such as sparks from power lines or rail, and from lightning. The reasonable worst case is a major fire in a high-rise residential building, care home, assisted living complex or hospital with significant loss of life, structural damage, a week of local transport disruption and pressure on housing from rehousing residents. A setting where people cannot respond to an alarm or evacuate themselves makes it worse. Fire and rescue services lead the response, with national capabilities such as high-volume pumps and urban search and rescue.

Where to look

• Online home fire safety check at ohfsc.co.uk.
• Fire Kills at firekills.campaign.gov.uk.
• Related pages: wildfires, power cuts, cold weather, snow and ice.