Brigade backs ‘Stoptober’ campaign in bid to curb balcony fires
The London Fire Brigade is calling for Londoners to quit smoking for good this ‘Stoptober’, as smoking materials are revealed as the biggest cause of balcony fires in the capital.
Recent figures show that for 130 dwelling fires on balconies over a one-year period*, cigarettes were the biggest cause of fires. The Brigade recorded 64 balconies involved in a blaze due to smokers not disposing of smoking materials safely – almost 50% of the total. The figure far outweighs any other cause for balcony fires, with only a handful of fires in the same location caused by barbecues, cigarette lighters or fireworks.
Accidental fires caused by cigarettes landing on balconies include one incident in August 2024, in Blackwall. It was a very visible fire on the 25th floor and attracted around 110 calls to the Brigade’s 999 Control centre. Ten fire engines and around 70 firefighters helped to extinguish the blaze.
In March, a balcony fire at a flat on the 11th floor of a building in the Isle of Dogs, was caused by the unsafe disposal of smoking materials. Thankfully there were no injuries, the Brigade received 14 ‘999’ calls.
This year’s Stoptober campaign is encouraging smokers to try quitting for 28 days – experts say stopping for the month makes it five times more likely a smoker will quit for good. Stoptober offers a range of free quitting tools including the NHS Quit Smoking app, daily email support, Facebook support groups, information about quitting smoking with a vape and expert support from local stop smoking services. Simply search ‘Stoptober’ for more information or visit the Better Health Quit Smoking website.
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