PARTIES AND PARKED CARS

Abstract

Introduction Unintentional injury from fire and flame is a leading cause of fatal injury in the home environment, particularly for adults aged under 65 years. Unintentional injury in domestic fire incidents has a relatively high case-fatality rate, and non-fatal injury can result in significant and ongoing disability and disfigurement. Detailed information about the circumstances of unintentional fire-related injury can assist in the development of appropriate fire safety strategies to reduce the incidence and impact of residential fire incidents. Methods Descriptive epidemiological analysis was undertaken on collated Fire Service, Health Service and Coroners' Court data for fatal domestic fire incidents, and analysis of hospital inpatient data for unintentional injury from fire and flame in the domestic environment. Narrative data from Fire Investigation Reports and Coronial files on identified cases were concurrently reviewed. Results Fire fatality rates were highest among adults aged over 64 years and children aged under 5 years. The most common ignition factor associated with child fatalities was play with matches or lighter, and several such incidents occurred in parked cars. Review of narrative data in coronial files and fire investigation reports in all age groups indicated disruption to household routine associated with several fatal incidents. Alcohol misuse was common, especially in the 15–64 year age group. Non-fatal injury rates showed a similar demographic pattern with an additional peak among adults aged 15–24 years. The absence of narrative data sources for non-fatal injury limited research capacity to understand the circumstances of such injury. Clothing ignitions and misuse of highly flammable liquids were associated with a high proportion of cases receiving hospital inpatient treatment for unintentional injury from fire and flame in the domestic environment. Conclusions Collation of data from different sources, particularly review of narrative data, identified particular scenarios associated with fatal unintentional domestic fire-related injury that were not apparent from database entries alone. There is a need for better information concerning fire scenarios resulting in non-fatal injury, in order to identify relevant risk factors. This project illustrated the benefits to injury prevention research of traversing boundaries between organisations and government departments in order to obtain information and inform intervention strategies.