World Fire Statistics

The economic cost of fires requires attention

The general cost of fire runs around 1% of GDP in most advanced countries, but has generally received much less attention than the cost of crime or of road accidents.

The World Fire Statistics Centre advocates strategies for reducing this cost. The centre is part of the Geneva Association for the Study of Insurance Economics. It publishes an Information Bulletin each month, highlighting a few key statistics from their Annual Report to the United Nations. The statistics show, among other things, the number of fire deaths in various countries as well as the cost of direct and indirect fire losses.

The Buncefield explosion

The editorial of the October Bulletin cites the accident in Buncefield, UK to illustrate that economic losses from fires do not get sufficient attention. In December 2005, the largest explosion and fire to have occurred in the UK since the Second World War took place at the Buncefield fuel storage depot. Not only was there extensive destruction of the depot’s installations, but there was also widespread damage to buildings and equipment in the surrounding area. Moreover, large quantities of fuel were lost and the contaminated water and foam from fire-fighting operations posed a serious environmental hazard.

Lessons learned

The accident showed that government fire safety strategies need to focus on more than just deaths and injuries alone. More attention should be given to the economic costs of fire to society. Despite this cost, fire precautions on industrial sites are not primarily taken by the governmental fire brigade, but by other bodies such as the companies Health and Safety Executive. If more responsibility for protecting Buncefield had rested on the fire brigades, major defects might have been avoided, according to the World Fire Statistics Centre.