Preventing accidental residential fires: the role of human involvement in non‐injury house fires

Summary Research to date has focused on causal descriptions of residential fire fatalities and injuries, with an emphasis on ignition factor. This paper examines if, how and why human actions or inactions lead to accidental residential fires and identifies the risk factors most closely associated with those fires caused by human unsafe behaviours. Interviews of 182 people who had survived accidental residential fires without serious injury were conducted. Each fire was classified as either of the following: (1) directly caused by human unsafe behaviours; (2) directly caused by human long-term inactions; or (3) involved no human actions. Frequencies and odds ratio values were presented. Slightly less than half (46%) of the non-injury fires were directly caused by human unsafe behaviours, 40% involved no human actions and 14% were associated with long-term human inactions. Examination of the fires caused by human unsafe behaviours compared with no human involvement using odds ratios showed that individuals in the former group were significantly more likely to be mentally ill, physically disabled, asleep, not in full-time paid employment and more intimate with ignition. Many non-injury fires do not directly arise from unsafe activity, and most of them were caused by electrical or ignition system failure. New design innovations and/or improvements in appliances may reduce those fires due to appliance maintenance negligence or electrical faults. Identification of the most high-risk individuals for unsafe behaviours can help inform fire safety educational programmes. Copyright © 2016 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.