Batteries set to overtake cooking as biggest cause of housefire
A warning has been issued
A senior Wiltshire firefighter has urged vapers to stop charging their devices under their pillows, as he revealed that electricals are set to replace kitchen fires as the biggest cause of household blazes.
Addressing a committee of Wiltshire Councillors, Brad Stevens, head of operations at Dorset & Wiltshire Fire and Rescue Service, said that while most house fires still started in the kitchen, fires caused by lithium-ion batteries were catching up.
He urged vapers to stop charging their devices under their pillows as they sleep, and said cyclists should beware of cheap aftermarket kits that converted their machines into e-bikes.
Housefires in Wiltshire hit a peak in 2025/6 – climbing to 746 from 541 the year before. Twenty-eight per cent were attributed to “cooking-related incidents,” while 21 per cent were caused by faulty electrical appliances.
“Cooking is still the number one cause of fires in the home, but lithium batteries are catching up,” said Mr Stevens.
“As the technology changes, the risks change. There’s an increase in the number of devices with lithium batteries.
“And disposal is the biggest cause of problems – they catch fire if they are crushed at waste sites.
“E-bikes are also a problem, especially those fitted with non-compliant equipment from abroad.”
And while he welcomed the Government ban on the sale of disposable vapes, he warned: “Non-disposable vapes are a growing concern. People put them to charge under their pillow so they can vape as soon as they wake up.”
Mr Stevens was updating members of Dorset & Wiltshire Fire and Rescue Authority’s cross-party Local Performance and Scrutiny Committee in Salisbury on August 27.
The committee was given an update on incidents and response times during the first quarter of 2026 – from April until June.
Response times to house fires had reduced from 14 minutes to 11:34 year-on-year, said Mr Stevens, while the average response time for road traffic accidents was down from 15:51 to 13 minutes – due to the strategic deployment of firefighters near the M4 and A303.
He said response times were measured from receipt of the 999 call to arrival at the scene.
During the quarter, eight people in Wiltshire had been rescued from fires, while 54 had been rescued from vehicles following traffic accidents.
He cautioned that Quarter 2 – July to September – would show an increase in incidents, due to wildfires caused by bonfires and barbecues.
“We will see an increase in shed fires and allotments,” he said.
He also warned that mandatory training targets would be missed in Q2, as courses had been cancelled due to the operational demand on service personnel.
And he said the purchase of specialist equipment worn by firefighters tackling wildfires was being considered, although no decision had been made.