Seven Facts every home owner and business person should know about the real cost of fire in the UK.
- In the fifteen minutes it will take you to read this consumer awareness guide, fire services across the UK will attend thirty fires or false alarms.
- On average, two people will die as a result of a fire in the next twenty four hours. None of these people expected to die today. Your chance of experiencing a serious fire in your lifetime is about one in five.
- Forty Four people are injured in fires every twenty four hours. That's about one every thirty seconds.
- There are 112 fires involving commercial buildings every day. None of those involved thought their building would catch fire.
- Every eight minutes there is a fire involving someone's home. 72% of fire victims die in the home - the place we feel safest in! 80% of fire related deaths and injuries happen in the home.
- There were approximately 117,800 deliberate fires started in the UK in 2002. The government estimated that in 2000, loss due to arson was over £2b. Insurance companies reported that 40% of their losses were arson related.
- The government estimates that the true cost of fire in the UK in 2002 was £6,900,000,000!
As a society we are dismissive of the risks of fire. Individually, we think fires only happen to other people. We sometimes assume we are too intelligent to fall victim to a fire. This false sense of security is lulling us into making poor decisions regarding the protection of the lives and property we are responsible for.
Protecting what you value most: Are you prepared to take the risk that you, a loved one, or someone you are responsible for, will fall victim to a fire? How would you feel if that happened to you and you knew there were reasonable precautions you could have taken?
|
