Fires: Barbecues
The question
To ask the Secretary of State for Housing, Communities and Local Government, how many fires attended by Fire and Rescue Services in England were attributed to disposable barbecues in each of the last three years.
Answered by Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government
MHCLG collects data on incidents attended by Fire and Rescue Services (FRSs) in England including information on the source of ignition. This data is published in the fire statistics table which can be found, here, specifically table FIRE0602, which covers primary fires by source of ignition. Secondary fires are excluded as MHCLG does not collect details on cause of secondary fires.
The data does not identify whether a barbecue was disposable or non-disposable. Therefore, MHCLG cannot provide figures specifically for fires attributed to disposable barbecues.
The number of primary fires in England where the source of ignition was recorded as “barbecue” was 267 in 2023/24, 238 in 2024/25 and 346 in 2025/26 the latest year for which data is published. These figures should therefore be interpreted as fires where “barbecue” was recorded as the source of ignition, rather than fires specifically attributed to disposable barbecues.
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