“Terrifying” number of fires in Aberdeenshire homes without smoke alarms

Smoke alarms were not present in 58 out of 145 homes where fires occurred.

A total of 40 per cent of all house fires in Aberdeenshire happened in homes where there were no smoke alarms fitted – the highest in mainland Scotland.

It comes as the SNP Government rejected calls earlier this year to extend the February deadline for all households in the country to have new interlinked smoke detectors installed.

Figures obtained by the Scottish Conservatives show smoke alarms were not present in 58 out of 145 homes across the region where fires occurred in 2021/22.

The total account for 40 per cent of all house fires in the region – the highest figure of any council area in mainland Scotland behind Orkney and Shetland.

Scottish Conservative north-east MSP Liam Kerr.

A further 13 fires happened in homes where detectors were fitted but did not operate while another 10 happened in houses where alarms had worked but the incident wasn’t raised with the emergency services. A further four fires occurred where emergency services weren’t sure if a device was fitted in the home.

A survey of 1000 Scots in February found 49% had not installed interlinked fire alarms by the deadline and 82% did not know that there was a grant available to help install fire alarms in the homes of the elderly and disabled.

Scottish Conservative north-east MSP Liam Kerr said: “It’s extremely concerning that Aberdeenshire has the highest number of house fires where a smoke alarm wasn’t installed.

“Everybody agreed these new alarms should be installed for safety reasons but these terrifying figures highlight that the Scottish Government hasn’t done enough to tell people what they needed to do.

“This should have been addressed by the SNP Government but its botched handling of the scheme spooked homeowners and failed to account for the number of tradesmen as well as the components required to install these alarms.

“The Scottish Government must do more to make people aware of the new rules and regulations so these statistics can be addressed. Every step must be taken to ensure these are fitted in homes across the north-east to prevent tragedies from occurring.”