Feature: ESF Update


Fire fears as millions admit to never testing their smoke alarm


Appears not all consumers are aware. In fact, are you or your family members or your friends aware?


E


xperts continue to raise the alarm as millions of households could be at risk of not being alerted to a fire in their home, as Brits admit to never testing their smoke alarm. A recent nationally representative survey of 2,000 adults across the UK by consumer safety charity, Electrical Safety First (ESF), revealed 7% of Brits admit to never testing their smoke alarm – the equivalent of four million adults across the country. Now, the experts are raising serious fears


many households may be jeopardising their chance to escape a fire. “Every second counts when it comes to escaping a fire in your home and smoke alarms can be the life-saving gadget that proves to be the difference between life and death. But they need to be maintained to ensure they operate properly,” said Giuseppe Capanna, product safety engineer at ESF. ESF recommends households test their smoke


alarms at least once every month and that households take just a few seconds to build this into their routine at home. Yet despite this, further research by ESF reveals a


mere 22% of Brits test once a month, with 39% of Brits testing their smoke alarm less often than this. Worryingly almost 1 in 10 test their smoke alarm just once a year or less. “Fires don’t discriminate,” Giuseppe Capanna


adds. “Many people affected by fire often tell us they simply didn’t think something like this could happen to them, which is why it’s so important households take just a few seconds to test their smoke alarm. “It’s also vital everyone consider if you they have enough of them in the home, making sure alarms are positioned in areas across the home where a fire could start and that there are at least one on every floor of the property. The more alarms in place, the earlier the warning will be depending on where in the home a fire starts.”


14 | www.ierdaily.co.uk


Smoke alarm blackspots revealed Analysis of Government fire data by ESF also reveals the regions across England where alarms were absent altogether. Plus, analysis of dwelling fires across England


reveals that, out of 24,140 accidental electrical dwelling fires between 2023 and 2025, 4,498, or 19%, were recorded as having an absent smoke alarm. “People living in a property without a smoke


alarm altogether are at a significantly higher risk of being serious injured or worse, losing their life, in the event a fire grips their home,” Giuseppe Capanna adds, as the Government’s own analysis reveals that people living without a working smoke alarm are 11 times more likely to die in a dwelling fire. Topping the list, Norfolk is one of the UK’s biggest fire safety blackspots. With smoke alarms absent in 188 homes where accidental electrical fires have broken out in the past two years, Norfolk poses the greatest fire-safety risk per capita. Avon ranked second (199), followed by


Cornwall and the Isles of Scilly (87), Hertfordshire (161), and Nottinghamshire (98), rounding out the top five fire-safety blackspots. Separate survey data also showed where people are least likely to never test their smoke alarms. Sheffield ranks the highest in the list, with over 14% of its population admitting to never testing their smoke alarms. Liverpool follows closely, with 11% of residents


neglecting to test their smoke alarms. London stands at 9%, while Bristol and Cardiff round up the list, tied at 8%. ESF continues to urge households to test smoke


alarms at least once a month, replace batteries when needed, never disable smoke alarms, and adopt simple fire-safe habits at home. Electrical Safety First is a UK consumer safety


charity, dedicated to reducing fires, injuries and deaths caused by electricity in homes.


PEOPLE MAKE THE DIFFERENCE The above research was conducted by


Censuswide, among a sample of 2,000 nationally representative UK consumers aged 18+. The data was collected between 27/01/2026 - 29/01/2026. Censuswide is a member of the Market Research Society (MRS) and the British Polling Council (BPC), and a signatory of the Global Data Quality Pledge. We adhere to the MRS Code of Conduct and ESOMAR principles.


Absent Alarm data Methodology To identify fire safety blackspots across England, an analysis was conducted using the UK Government Dwelling Fires dataset (2023 to present), focusing on incidents where alarms were absent at the time of the fire. (Data correct as of 29/01/2026 at 10:00am) The data set was filtered to ensure findings


related specifically to accidental electrical fires occurring in domestic dwellings. Filters applied were: Fire type: Accidental fires only - Ignition source: Electric only


Cause of fire • Faulty appliances and leads • Faulty fuel supplies • Misuse of equipment or appliances • Placing articles too close to the heat Fire incident data were analysed on a per-capita


basis to identify regions with a disproportionately high number of fires where smoke alarms were not present. Population figures were based on Office for National Statistics (ONS) mid-year population estimates (2023–24). Where historic or combined county areas are used, population totals have been reconstructed by summing their constituent local authorities to align with fire reporting boundaries.


EDITOR FOOTNOTE - If not already selling Smoke or Carbon Monoxide Alarms, maybe these safety accessories are worthy of consideration?


Spring 2026


Page 1  |  Page 2  |  Page 3  |  Page 4  |  Page 5  |  Page 6  |  Page 7  |  Page 8  |  Page 9  |  Page 10  |  Page 11  |  Page 12  |  Page 13  |  Page 14  |  Page 15  |  Page 16  |  Page 17  |  Page 18  |  Page 19  |  Page 20  |  Page 21  |  Page 22  |  Page 23  |  Page 24  |  Page 25  |  Page 26  |  Page 27  |  Page 28  |  Page 29  |  Page 30  |  Page 31  |  Page 32  |  Page 33  |  Page 34  |  Page 35  |  Page 36  |  Page 37  |  Page 38  |  Page 39  |  Page 40  |  Page 41  |  Page 42  |  Page 43  |  Page 44  |  Page 45  |  Page 46  |  Page 47  |  Page 48