Loss analysis Main category: Religious Sub category: Church/chapel


Jan 2009 to Dec 2018: During this period, large loss fires in religious premises accounted for 0.9% of all large loss fires


The numbers: There were 55 large loss fires in religious premises, 46 of which occurred in churches or chapels. Fires in churches and chapels accounted for 0.8% of all large loss fires and 84% of fires in religious premises


Cause Religious premises


Churches and chapels Time of day


Religious premises


Churches and chapels Impedances


Religious premises Churches and chapels


Accidental 34.5% 34.8%


16.4% 19.6%


Deliberate 50.9% 50.0%


12.7% 10.9%


Unknown/unassigned 14.5% 15.2%


00:00 - 06:00 06:00 - 12:00 12:00 - 18:00 18:00 - 00:00 Unknown 23.6% 23.9%


10.9% 10.9%


Total 5 4


Access 5 4


0 0


36.4% 34.8%


Acetylene Inadequate water Resources 0 0


0 0


The cost: Fires in religious premises account for 0.9% of estimated financial losses in all large loss fires, with an average of £614,769 per fire. Fires in churches and chapels account for 93.4% of the estimated large losses in religious premises, with an average cost of £662,016 per fire


Insurance component


Religious premises Churches and chapels Business


Building 91.1% 91.8%


interruption Contents Loss of rent 3.1% 2.9%


4.2% 3.9%


Fires in churches and chapels cost on average £971 m2 cost £1,028 m2


see that political events and unrest have not led to an increase in the numbers of large fires in the places of worship for any particular faith. The large losses are partially due to the form of construction of the buildings in this category. Traditional places of worship tend to be large, open, lofty buildings with towers, spires and hidden cavities, and these present a bigger challenge to firefighters than more modern places of worship. The problem in traditional buildings is that, while the walls and pillars may be made of stone, the roof, screens and other internal partitions will predominantly be wooden. Together with a wooden floor and pews or other forms of seating, this presents a considerable fire load, which will allow a small fire to develop and spread very rapidly indeed. Witnesses have described how, once having reached a timber roof, flames have spread above them faster than they can run out of the building. Other than lighting, potential ignition sources


tend to be at low level, with electrical equipment and candles being the most hazardous. Almost all religions involve flames in their ceremonies, most commonly in the form of large altar candles, memorial candles or ghee lamps. Altar candles can burn for days and may easily be forgotten when a building is locked at the end of the day. There have been instances where these have burnt low and collapsed, resulting in a fire igniting a carpet, screen or decorations.


0.2% 0.0%


Machine and plant


0.0% 0.0%


Stock Other 0.0% 0.0%


1.3% 1.3%


; whereas those in religious premises as a whole Wherever it is practicable, candles should be


replaced by battery operated, flame effect candles. Where there is no acceptable alternative to their use, care must be taken and checks made to ensure that all candles are snuffed out prior to the building being left unoccupied. The fire safety message should be emphasised


to all users of the building, including leaders of various groups that may make use of the premises such as choirs, musicians and those responsible for providing tea and arranging flowers. This is especially important in modern buildings which, instead of having a separate church hall, provide space for social functions, wedding receptions and similar gatherings – as well as praise and worship – in the main building. All staff who may officiate at services and


ceremonies must be on the alert for anything out of the ordinary that may be introduced into the building, particularly at Christmas, Easter and the times of other festivals. It is important that while the large open space in many modern places of worship lends itself to use by both sectarian and non sectarian groups for a wide range of purposes, fire prevention must be at the heart of the message to all users – there are no records of fire safety responding reliably to the power of prayer!


Adair Lewis is technical consultant at the FPA. For more information, view page 5


These statistics are based on information supplied by loss adjusters to the FPA on a voluntary basis and not all insurers conducting business in the UK contribute to this dataset. They represent only sums paid out where the total loss is in excess of £100k and are deficient of losses under £100K, deductibles, underinsurance, uninsured, self insured and captively insured components, which may be significant. In a year, total losses captured typically account for 50% of the ABI declared annual fire loss figure – which is similarly deficient of the same components (except the £100k threshold).


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