FOI Request 2294

Subject: Construction Site Fires

Status: Complete

Date received: February 2026

Question Asked:

I am writing to request information under the Freedom of Information Act 2000.

Please provide the following information in relation to fires attended at construction sites within your fire and rescue service area between 1 January 2021 and 31 December 2025.

For the purposes of this request, a construction site can be taken to mean a building or site that was under construction, renovation, or conversion at the time of the incident and not fully occupied.

1. The total number of fire incidents attended at construction sites during this period.

2. A year-by-year breakdown of these incidents (calendar years are sufficient).

3. Where available, the number of incidents recorded as deliberate and non-deliberate/accidental (a simple split is sufficient).

4. The number of incidents that resulted in any recorded injuries or fatalities (firefighters or members of the public).

Our Response:

Please find below the data requested regarding fires in buildings under construction attended by Cheshire Fire and Rescue Service between 1st January 2021 and 31st December 2025. The information has been taken from the Cheshire Fire and Rescue Service Incident Recording System (IRS).

The following caveats apply to the data provided:

• There are no specific property types on the IRS for ‘construction site’ so the question ‘Is the building normally occupied?’ has been used to provide this data. If this question has been answered as ‘No - under construction’ the incident has been included in the dataset. This answer includes property still under construction and not habitable, properties being renovated, converted or if the occupiers have moved out temporarily.

• The question ‘Is the building normally occupied?’ is only required to be answered when the incident is a primary fire or a chimney fire in a building which is not derelict.

1. The total number of fire incidents attended at construction sites during this period.

17 incidents

2. A year-by-year breakdown of these incidents (calendar years are sufficient)

3. Where available, the number of incidents recorded as deliberate and non-deliberate/accidental (a simple split is sufficient)

4. The number of incidents that resulted in any recorded injuries or fatalities (firefighters or members of the public)

Outcome: Information Provided

FOI responded to within timescales: YES

Further action: NO