A starting point, along with other research reports published last year on evacuation and fire related fatalities, hoped to be widely used by fire and rescue services, fire industry professionals, and other readers, needing to make better evidence-based decisions
This report is the best available current estimate for the total economic and social cost of fire and is the culmination of a significant amount of analysis. It builds on and improves the seminal work on this topic published by the Department for Communities and Local Government (DCLG, now DLUHC) in 2011 (DCLG, 2011a, DCLG 2011b) and follows a similar overall methodology to other Home Office published appraisal “cost of” reports, such as those published on crime (HO, 2018) and domestic abuse (HO, 2019). However, this report uses novel analytical approaches and methodologies, and attempts to cost areas which have not been included in previous reports on the cost of fire. Accordingly, it is not appropriate to directly compare total figures. Although this report is the most robust and accurate estimate possible, some significant uncertainties exist (especially in the anticipation and property damage figures) and assumptions have had to be made. These could be improved on with further specific work and are referenced throughout the report where relevant
