Citation

Chandler SE. Fire Safety J. 1982; 5(1): 21-27.

Copyright

(Copyright © 1982, Elsevier Publishing)

DOI

unavailable

PMID

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Abstract

Apart from socio-economic factors, severe winter conditions are also known to affect the incidence of fires in dwellings. The severe winter of 1978-1979 in Great Britain provided an opportunity for assessing these effects and for verifying the results of earlier studies based on the data for the winter of 1962-1963 when similar adverse conditions prevailed. Fires due to space heating, electric blankets, wire and cable (including leads to appliances), and to a lesser extent fires due to smokers' materials, all increase in bad weather conditions. The most vulnerable age group during a cold spell is those aged 65 and over, especially females living alone.This study is part of a research programme to identify sections of the population which are at greater risk from the damaging effects of fires.