House fires caused by home appliances have dropped by a fifth in 10 years, according to Home Office figures which have been analysed by insurer Prominence Support.

Incident Recording System data on fire statistics published by the Home Office revealed there were just under 15,000 domestic fires (14,977) in England caused by home appliances during the past financial year (2019/20).

This is the lowest number of incidents during any year over the last 10 years and a 21.5% drop in fires since 2010/11, when 19,067 fires attended by the Fire and Rescue Services were started by appliances.

Sponsored Video

Quarter sawn Tulipwood

Domestic appliance fires have dropped by 3.2% over the past 12 months compared to the previous year, when 15,478 incidents were attended by the Fire and Rescue Services.

The biggest cause of domestic appliance fires remain cookers, with 8,000 blazes accounting for over half of all domestic appliance fires (53%).

There was a 7% increase in domestic fires started by washing machines comparing the past two financial years, causing 624 blazes in 2019/20 compared to 558 in 2018/19.

Microwaves caused 922 fires and tumble dryers accounted for 668 blazes, while fridge/freezer and dishwashers were responsible for 215 and 194 fires respectively.

Claims manager at home appliance insurer Prominence Support Lorraine Taylor commented: “It’s encouraging to see that the number of fires caused by home appliances has been steadily falling over the past decade.

“This will be due to a number of reasons. It could be because people are changing their appliances more frequently, before any potentially dangerous faults develop.”

She continued: “But upgrading an appliance every 2-3 years, particularly a larger item such as a washing machine can be expensive…The trick is to keep on top of faults and maintenance and not let a minor fault turn into a potentially dangerous fault.”

Taylor added: “Not every fault starts a fire, but if you have an appliance checked immediately a minor fault develops, then it can be repaired before it becomes a major and a lethal one.”

Homeowners can register new and existing appliances, so they can be informed if a safety notice or product recall action is put in place.