Background

Alcohol use is a major global health risk, linked not only to chronic disease but also to injuries and traumatic events, including residential fires, where intoxication reduces awareness and the ability to respond. In Ireland, alcohol use remains high and has increasingly shifted to drinking at home, a pattern associated with heavier and riskier drinking and increased vulnerability to fire incidents. This study examined individual, geographic, and contextual characteristics of alcohol-related fatal fires to inform targeted fire prevention efforts.

Methods

Details of all fatal fires that occur in Ireland are collected through the HRB’s National Drug-Related Deaths Index (NDRDI) on behalf of the National Directorate for Fire and Emergency Management in the Department of Housing Local Government and Heritage. During the period 2014–2021, there were 273 fatalities due to fires, of which 112 (41.0%) had positive alcohol toxicology. Descriptive and multivariate logistic regression along with geospatial analyses was used to explore the characteristics of alcohol-related fatal fires.

Results

Of all fatal fires, over one in ten individuals had a blood alcohol concentration (BAC) reading of 250 mg/100 mL or higher (11.7%) or over one-quarter of alcohol-related fire fatalities (28.6%). Alcohol was the only drug detected on 47.8% of alcohol-related fires’ toxicology results. A further 14.3% had one other substance detected, and 38.4% had two or more other substances detected. The most common additional substances were antidepressants and benzodiazepines.

Alcohol-related fire fatalities were more likely to be male (69.6%) and 53.6% were single. Two-thirds (67.0%) of those who died were alone at the time of the fire, 42.0% were known to be smokers, 21.4% had a history of mental health problems, and 30.4% had a history of alcohol dependency. In addition, 14.3% were reported to have mobility issues.

Based on the proportion of the population living in rural areas, alcohol-related fatal fire incidents were more common in rural areas. Almost one-half of alcohol-related fatal fires occurred in disadvantaged or marginally below-average areas (49.1%), higher than the proportion of the general population that live in these areas (44.7%). The mean distance from the nearest emergency response fire station to the location of the alcohol-related fatal fire was 7 kilometres and the mean travel time was 10.5 minutes.

Compared to fatal fires not involving alcohol, fire fatalities in the 35–49 years age group were significantly more likely to involve alcohol (65.9%) (p < 0.001). Alcohol-related fires were more likely when friends were present at the time of the incident (p < 0.001). History of alcohol dependency was a significant predictor of a fatal fire being alcohol related (OR=4.109, 95% CI: 1.118, 15.106, p=0.033). 

Conclusion

More than two in every five of those who died in a fire in Ireland had been drinking prior to the incident, indicating that alcohol is a key risk factor for fire accidents and mortality, which is not often recognised. The study found that alcohol-related fatal fires were strongly associated with alcohol dependency, and commonly co-occurred with other risk factors, particularly being alone, smoking, older age, and impaired mobility. Most fatalities were alone at the time of the fire, and smoking or cooking while intoxicated were frequent ignition sources, with rural locations overrepresented and longer emergency response times observed. Overall, alcohol increases fire fatality risk when combined with behavioural, social, and environmental factors, thus highlighting the need to explicitly include alcohol in fire prevention policy and targeted safety interventions.

Doyle A, Stevely AK, Lyons S, McBride J, Riordan F and Holmes J (2026) Geographical characteristics and other factors associated with alcohol-related fatal fires in Ireland 2014 – 2021. HRB Open Research, 9, 15. https://doi.org/10.12688/hrbopenres.14341. Available from: https://www.drugsandalcohol.ie/45105/