Table 7.4. The cause of accidental fires in dwellings, and the rate of injuries at these fires in the West Midlands metropolitan county 1999/00 to 2002/3

Cause of accidental fires in dwellings	No. of accidental fires in dwellings	% of accidental fires in dwellings	Accidental fires in dwellings where casualties (deaths / injuries / rescues) occurred
Cause of accidental fires in dwellings	No. of accidental fires in dwellings	% of accidental fires in dwellings	Frequency	Rate per 1,000 fires
Cookers	6729	55.7%	904	134.3
Smoking materials (excl. matches, incl. cig. lighters)	1068	8.8%	236	221.0
Electrical supply and wiring	876	7.3%	55	62.8
Matches / candles / naked light / joss sticks	637	5.3%	133	208.8
Heating	596	4.9%	87	146.0
Other appliances	535	4.4%	68	127.1
Washing machine / tumble drier / spin drier	383	3.2%	18	47.0
Microwaves	317	2.6%	29	91.5
Toasters	286	2.4%	9	31.5
Other (incl. lighting / fireworks / rubbish burning)	424	3.5%	56	132.1
Not known	223	1.8%	28	125.6
Total	12074	100.0%	1623	134.4