Fatal Residential Fire Accidents in the Municipality of Copenhagen, 1991–1996

Background. The death rate for fatal fire accidents in Denmark has doubled since 1951, mostly due to an increase in the number of fire accidents associated with smoking. The most common cause of residential fire deaths in Denmark today is smoking, often combined with alcohol intoxication or handicap...

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Bibliographic Details
Published in:Preventive medicine 1998-05, Vol.27 (3), p.444-451
Main Authors: Leth, Peter, Gregersen, Markil, Sabroe, Svend
Format: Article
Language:English
Subjects:
accident
Accidents, Home - mortality
Accidents, Home - prevention & control
Adolescent
Adult
Aged
alcohol
Alcoholic Intoxication
Case-Control Studies
Child
Child, Preschool
Denmark - epidemiology
Female
fire
Fires - prevention & control
Fires - statistics & numerical data
Humans
Infant
Infant, Newborn
Logistic Models
Male
Middle Aged
Multivariate Analysis
Odds Ratio
Risk Factors
Smoking
tobacco
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Summary:Background. The death rate for fatal fire accidents in Denmark has doubled since 1951, mostly due to an increase in the number of fire accidents associated with smoking. The most common cause of residential fire deaths in Denmark today is smoking, often combined with alcohol intoxication or handicap. Methods. This was a case-control study of fatal fire accidents in private homes in the municipality of Copenhagen from 1991 to 1996. The fatal fire accidents were identified from a police register, and the two non-fatal fire accidents registered immediately before and after each fatal fire were selected as a control group. Information about the circumstances surrounding the fires was derived from the police reports. Multivariate logistic regression analysis was used to estimate the risk associated with each variable after adjusting for confounders. The analysis was performed on the basis of the theoretical model in which the variables were part of a causal network. Results. The following five variables seemed to be of most importance: (1) localization of the victim close to the source of ignition (OR = 11), (2) physical handicaps (OR = 5), (3) chronic alcoholism (OR = 7), (4) clothing fires (OR = 24), and (5) alarm being given by a person not present at the scene of fire (OR =33). Preventive measures are discussed in the light of the results.
ISSN:0091-7435
1096-0260
DOI:10.1006/pmed.1998.0295