Residential Fires in Metropolitan Areas: Living Conditions and Fire Prevention

This chapter addresses the benefits of geo-statistical approaches in fire prevention processes, especially in the prevention of residential fires in urban areas. The aim is to demonstrate how residential fire incidents can be theorized and placed in a context where geo-statistical techniques and an area-based approach can support the emergency services fire prevention work. The chapter introduces theoretical concepts such as Fire Risk Environment, Fire Protection Capability, as well as determining factors, types of residential fires, and various hypotheses for further analysis of residential fires in urban contexts. Key themes are the development of residential fire incidents in different metropolitan areas over time, how different types of residential fires can be connected to living conditions, and finally how the emergency services and other actors can work with area-based fire prevention. Examples from Sweden’s major cities and especially the city of Gothenburg are used. The results show that variations in spatial residential fire patterns can be explained by a variation of living conditions. The conditions may also look different depending on the residential area and housing conditions, and therefore, preventive strategies and proactive measures should differ between and within cities and be adapted to specific different areas.