Balconies Feature
Balcony fires up 46% year-on-year, smoking the leading cause
A shocking new report has revealed that balcony fires increased by 46% year-on-year, highlighting a significant threat to buildings in cities across the UK and with smoking the leading cause. Richard Izzard from AliDeck, the producer of the report, details their findings
Building Fabric
A
s a manufacturer of aluminium decking and balcony components, we work to find the most cost-effective and future proof solutions. In the context of the ongoing building safety crisis, fire safety is key and non-
combustible materials are essential on balconies. While the challenge is easily overcome within new-build by simply specifying
only fire safe construction materials, there are a vast amount of multi-storey, multi-occupancy buildings across the UK that have combustible materials in the external wall system, including on balconies. Much progress has been made to resolve this issue via large-scale remediation programs but there is much more work to do. To highlight the risk posed by combustible balconies, we produce an annual
report on the prevalence and causes of balcony fires, with data gathered through Freedom of Information Act (FOIA) requests to UK Fire and Rescue Services.
Tese reports outline the shocking truth and underscore the need for urgent interventions.
THE BALCONY FIRES REPORT 2021-2022 Balcony fires were up 46% year-on-year, with 310 in total compared to 213 in the previous period. London alone accounted for 163 fires on balconies, an increase on the prior year’s tally of 150. With smoking once again by far the leading cause, accounting for 59% of all balcony fires, the immediate conclusion must be that balconies should become a strictly no-smoking area. Doing so would clearly prevent scores of fires each year. With other causes identified such as arson, candles, fireworks, and barbecues
alongside smoking, the report shows that 76% of all fires on balconies were caused by reckless human behaviour. Tis devastating fact suggests that, even
www.housingmmonline.co.uk | HMMDecember/January 2023 | 27
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