Revealed: the everyday appliances most likely to start a fire in East Sussex

Cookers, stand-alone hobs and toasters are the domestic appliances most likely to start fires in East Sussex.
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New figures from the Home Office show that 1,636 house fires were started by a household appliance in the area between April 2012 and March last year.

Almost half the incidents attended by the East Sussex Fire and Rescue Service were started by cookers, with 807 fires causing 102 deaths or casualties over the five-year period.

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The most common domestic appliances to cause fires in East Sussex between April 2012 and March 2017 were:

1) cookers, including ovens: 807 fires

2) separate rings and hot plates: 254

3) grills and toasters: 150

4) microwave ovens: 113

5) tumble dryers: 64

The Fire Brigades Union warned that both manufacturers and householders have a duty to prevent fires caused by everyday appliances.

A spokesman for the union said: “Manufacturers have a duty to ensure the products they sell are safe for the public to use and do not pose a threat to life.

“We can all play our part in reducing fire risk by registering products with the manufacturers when we buy them, so that we are notified if there is a safety-related recall.

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“Make sure that the electrical wiring in our homes is in good order, and ensure that we have working smoke alarms and we have a plan for what to do if they go off.”

Between April 2012 and March 2017, 176 fires started by domestic appliances caused deaths or injuries.

Over 261 fires were started by faulty appliances or leads in East Sussex over the five years. Across England, such faults started over 13,000 fires.

The most common reason for fires started by appliances was misuse of the equipment, which caused 788 fires in East Sussex, and nearly 48,000 nationally.

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But the old staple of fire safety talks, chip pans, were still the cause of 113 fires in East Sussex, and over 9,000 fires nationally.

Data: https://www.gov.uk/government/statistical-data-sets/fire-statistics-data-tables