Fires in Prisons: Latest Data

 

Last month Justice Secretary Alex Chalk told MPs that “One of the last things that a Prisons Minister or Lord Chancellor worth their salt thinks about as they go to bed is fire. It is important that we do what we can on that to bear down on it, quite apart from the fact that there is a statutory requirement on us”.

Latest figures show that Fire and Rescue Services attended 1,012 incidents in English prisons in the last financial year up 20% on 2021/22. 21 incidents were also recorded in what are referred to as Young Offender Units, up from 11 the year before.

The Home Office data is detailed but not as informative as it could be about the seriousness of the incidents. For example, there were 92 fatalities/casualties recorded in the prison data but the category is wide covering “those with injuries requiring hospital attention, those requiring first aid at the scene and those given advice to have precautionary checks (whether they then take that advice or not)”.

In 250 cases there was no fire damage, and in 414 damage was limited to the item first ignited. In 312 incidents fire spread was limited to the room of origin. Yet, in more than 400 incidents more than four vehicles attended suggesting a high level of concern on the part of firefighters.

It goes without saying that in responding to reports of fire it is better to be safe than sorry. The Prison service is undertaking a wide range of much needed work to improve fire safety. The Home Office data reports that in three quarters of prison incidents an alarm was present and raised the alarm. But in the remaining cases an alarm was absent, or present and did not raise the alarm or operate. While expert work is needed to fully understand what this means, we do know that in April  the Crown Premises Fire Safety Inspectorate  reported that  three prisons- two private and one public- had enforcement notices in force, meaning necessary safety improvements of some sort were outstanding.

Fires have claimed many lives in detention facilities around the world and its encouraging to see Chalk take the problem seriously. It is more troubling to read that his cabinet colleague the deputy Prime Minister considers concerns about fire risks in asylum seeker accommodation to be politically motivated.