Thank you for your request under the Environmental Information Regulations.
We can confirm that Essex County Fire & Rescue Service does hold the information you have requested.
Please see below the answer to your request.
Questions and final response:
Question 1 - Number of incidences attributed to:
Solar PV
Battery Storage System
Heatpump (Airsource)
Heatpump (ground source)
Wind turbine
Electric Vehicle Charging Equipment
The table below contains some of the data requested.
There are some limitations on the data requested and the standard data recording that Essex County Fire & Rescue Service (ECFRS) currently use in our Incident Recording Systems (IRS).
The table below has captured Fires attributed to the listed items.
These items are not contained in the specific lists within our IRS, they have been captured as a result of a free text search across the free text fields.
This has contained search terms such as ‘Solar’ Solar Panel, Battery Storage, BSS, Battery, Heat Pump, Wind Turbine, Turbine, Vehicle Charg, Battery Charg.
It is not possible to capture all possible terms and all possible spellings of the search fields.
As such, this is best set of data that we are able to obtain.
This data relates to all Fire incidents from 1st January 2023 to date.
Special Service incidents have not been included, as those captured related to freeing birds trapped under solar panels, solar panels that may have slipped in wind etc.
False alarms have also been excluded as our IRS entry does not capture enough information.
Fire Cause Fire Main Cause Fire Ignition Source Type Injury Fatality
Accidental Faulty fuel supply - electricity Electricity supply - Apparatus Solar Panel 0 0
- batteries, generators
Accidental Faulty fuel supply - electricity Electricity supply - Apparatus Solar Panel 0 0
- batteries, generators
Accidental Faulty fuel supply - electricity Electricity supply - Wiring, Solar Panel 0 0
cabling, plugs
Accidental Faulty fuel supply - electricity Electricity supply - Wiring, Vehicle Charger 0 0
cabling, plugs
Accidental Fault in equipment or appliance Electricity supply - Wiring, Vehicle Charger 0 0
cabling, plugs
Question 2 - Number of injuries caused by the incidences in question 1.
See table in response to Q1.
Question 3 - Number of deaths caused by the incidences in question 1.
See table in response to Q1.
Question 4 - What was the cause of the incidences (based on IRS categories)?
Faulty Appliances and Leads
Misuse of Equipment or Appliances
Careless handling of fire or hot substances
Deliberate
Faulty fuel supplies
Placing articles too close to heat
Playing with fire
Other (please state)
See table in response to Q1.
Question 5 - Can the problems be pinpointed to:
User error/lack of understanding of the item /system requirements? (please explain)
Installation error? (please explain)
Electrical Mechanical / fixing (note: we do need to find if there is an issue with electrical installers breaching roofing construction methods)
Design error (please explain)
Equipment failure? (please explain)
Lack of maintenance of the LCT system and wiring? (please explain)
We are do hold this information with our IRS data, this is not information that is collected by our crews at incidents and recorded on our systems.
Question 6 - Were the affiliated switchgear, and protective devices (e.g., MCB, Fuse, RCBO, RCD, etc), in the consumer unit/distribution board checked to be suitable and correctly sized for the installation, considering the potential increased current flows and bidirectional operation?
We are do hold this information with our IRS data, this is not information that is collected by our crews at incidents and recorded on our systems.
Question 7 - What was the age of the installation?
We are do hold this information with our IRS data, this is not information that is collected by our crews at incidents and recorded on our systems.
We hope this information is useful to you.
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Incident and other data is published on our transparency site. Incident Data (essexfire.gov.uk) .
Please note that the response and data released to you as part of this request will be published on our website http://transparency.essex-fire.gov.uk/.
All requests will be anonymised and no personal information including contact details will be disclosed as part of this process.
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Thank you for your interest in Essex County Fire and Rescue Service, we hope this satisfies your request.
If you are dissatisfied with the handling of your request, you have the right to apply for an internal review.
Internal review requests should be submitted within two months of the date of your original email and should be sent to informationgovernance@essex-fire.gov.uk or sent to our postal address: Internal Review, System & Data Information Governance Team, Kelvedon Park, Rivenhall, Witham, Essex CM8 3HB.
Please ensure you quote the above reference number in all future communications.