§ Mrs. Bridget PrenticeTo ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department how many children were killed or injured as a result of clothing catching fire(a) nationally and (b) in the London borough of Lewisham in each year since 1980.
§ Mr. Charles WardleInformation for the United Kingdom is shown in the table. It shows casualties where clothing being worn was the first item to catch fire. 'The statistics cannot identify fires starting elsewhere spreading to clothing. Data are not separately available for Lewisham.
Deaths and injuries of children aged under 11, where clothing on a person was the first material to catch fire, in fires attended by local authority fire brigades, United Kingdom Year Fire related deaths Fire related injuries 1981 4 18 1982 1 10 1983 0 14 1984 0 11 1985 0 7 1986 2 14 1987 0 10 1988 4 11 1989 0 8 1990 0 8 1991 0 8 19921 1 10 1Provisional. Source: Home Office Fire Statistics, based on reports from local authority fire brigades.