What is the main cause of death in a fire?

Last year, fire and rescue services attended over 555,000 incidents with 237 of these ending in fatalities (GOV UK). Fires attended by the emergency services spanned a range of environments such as homes, road vehicles, outdoor fires and other buildings such as offices and shops.

Of course, fires can be started due to a number of reasons, for example almost 50% of accidental dwelling fires were caused by cooking appliances with smokers materials equating to 8% of fires. Other factors such as electrical equipment, flammable materials and hot weather can also cause a fire however, what leads to the main cause of death?

When a fire starts, smoke is released from materials that burn, this means that toxic gases are now in the air and will be inhaled if people are around them and, is what leads to the main cause of death when a fire starts. Breathing in harmful gases can cause serious respiratory problems with up to 80% of deaths from a fire being caused from breathing in toxic gases. Symptoms of this can include coughing, vomiting, sleepiness, confusion and burns to the nose, mouth and face.

Taking just one breath of hot air can be lethal and do serious damage to lungs which is why it is essential that anyone who has been close to a fire or believes they may have inhaled smoke should be seen by the emergency services even if they look well.

When a fire starts, the first thing to do is call 999, once everyone is rescued from the fire, they should be taken straight to the hospital where they may need to be put on oxygen to help stabilise their breathing meanwhile the fire brigade will be putting out the rest of the fire.

If caught in a fire, important points to remember are to try not to panic and alert everyone around you. Use your pre-planned escape route that you will have in place at work or your nearest safe exit at home. As smoke rises, when leaving the building that you are in try to stay as low as possible and crawl on the floor where the air will be cleaner and easier for you to breathe.

It is important to always ensure you have an up to date fire escape plan, a working smoke alarm as well as the appropriate fire safety tools if you are a business owner such as an extinguisher, fire blankets and fire safety posters.