Household appliances ‘trigger 5 fires a day’

FIVE fires are caused every day in England by fridges, tumble dryers and other appliances, it is claimed today.

The warning comes in the wake of the Grenfell Tower tragedy, which was triggered by a faulty fridge freezer.

The charity Electrical Safety First (ESF) says the blaze was one of more than 1,800 caused by kitchen appliances each year.

It is calling on the Government to set up a regime of free appliance fire risk tests for all tower block residents. Under the current system for recalling appliances, less than 20 per cent of the items identified as a fire risk are ever traced and fixed. As a result, millions of fridges and tumble dryers known to be dangerous remain in homes.

Two years ago the Government set up an official review of the recall system, but ministers have failed to implement its recommendations, leaving families at risk.

The Grenfell Tower disaster last month is one of three tower block fires in recent years blamed on electrical devices. It was caused by a faulty Hotpoint fridge freezer, owned by the company Whirlpool, which was not on a safety recall list.

Last August, a blaze caused by a faulty tumble dryer subject to a safety recall by Whirlpool ripped through a tower block in Shepherd’s Bush, west London. And in 2009, six people died when a fire broke out at Lakanal House in Camberwell, south London. It is believed to have been started by an electrical fault in a television.

ESF said that last year, some 1,873 fires were caused by domestic electrical white goods in England alone, the equivalent of more than five a day. Martyn Allen, ESF technical director, said: ‘Tenants have the right to live in a home that has a safe electrical installation and appliances … we would like to see Government implement mandatory safety checks as a matter of urgency.’

ESF has written to the minister responsible, Margot James. It says housing associations and councils should have a legal responsibility to ensure free mandatory electrical safety checks in tower blocks.

It said they should also keep a register of white goods in the blocks to make sure they are not on product fire risk lists.