Underlining the findings of our Balcony Fires Report, a recent major fire on balcony was caused by carelessly discarded cigarette, resulting in gutted flat
The publication of our 2021-2022 Balcony Fires Report revealed shocking statistics around the prevalence and causes of fires on balconies across the UK. To see a 46% year-on-year increase in the number of these fires is deeply disappointing but to see the proportion of fires caused by smoking rise to 59% of the total creates a palpable sense of anger.
The potentially devastating outcome of a carelessly discarded cigarette is graphically illustrated by some upsetting photographs shared to us following the publication of the report last week. This fire occurred recently and its cause was found to be a cigarette flicked from a balcony two floors above. The result was a major fire on a balcony, a destroyed flat, and an innocent resident homeless and with their possessions destroyed.
This wholly avoidable fire is an outrage, frankly. The inconsiderate smoker carelessly threatened the life not only of the destroyed flat’s occupier but also of all residents in the block and the responding fire service workers.
The balconies in this example have timber decking and a fire was able to quickly take hold. Spreading into the adjoining flat, an inferno completely gutted several rooms, destroying their contents and rendering the property uninhabitable.
Our latest Balcony Fires Report shows that in the 12 months period between 1st August 2021 and 31st July 2022, there were 310 fires on balconies. Not all would have resulted in this level of devastation, but all were serious enough to warrant calling the fire brigade. Many of these fires would have occurred on buildings that had combustible materials in the balconies, in the external wall system, or in both.
The spread of fire is a serious concern on such buildings and the potential consequences are horrifying. Fortunately, in the incident shown in these photographs, nobody was harmed. Looking at the level of damage and understanding the intensity of the fire that caused it, though, suggests this was more down to luck than judgement.
Finally, here’s a photograph showing the origin of this blaze; note the presence of the ash tray on the arm of the chair. If the cigarette had been extinguished in it rather than flicked over the edge of the balcony, this fire would not have occurred.
Education and outreach is required from housing associations and landlords to their tenants to inform them of the dangers posed by smoking on balconies. Hundreds of fires on balconies will be prevented if smokers refrain from lighting up on their balcony.
If changing human behaviour won’t work, the risk of major fires can be mitigated by the timely remediation of balconies to remove and replace all combustible materials in the structure. Aluminium decking is a fire-safe alternative to timber and composite and AliDeck decking has already helped to make a great many multi-occupancy buildings across the UK safer.
To find out how you can perform fire-safety remediation to your balconies, call the AliDeck team on 01622 235 672 or email info@alideck.co.uk.
