A care home is one of the highest-stakes settings for fire safety in the UK. It combines two demanding challenges in one building: residents who cannot easily evacuate, and the commercial fire safety duties that apply to any non-domestic premises. The result is a sector that draws intense scrutiny from fire and rescue services — care homes receive the second-highest volume of enforcement notices of any premises type in England. This guide brings together the latest verified data from the Ministry of Housing, Communities & Local Government (MHCLG) and South Wales Fire and Rescue Service, covering how many fires occur, why the risk profile is so severe, what enforcement looks like, and the prosecution cases that show the cost of getting it wrong.

Key facts and figures

  • 433 fires occurred in hospitals and medical care facilities in 2024/25 — about 6.5% of all UK workplace fires.
  • 192 enforcement notices were issued to care homes in 2024/25 — the second-highest of any premises type.
  • ~11% of all fire safety enforcement notices were issued to care homes, up from 189 the previous year.
  • ~41% of care home fires originate in cooking and kitchen areas.
  • 39% of all fire-related fatalities in England were people aged 65 and over.
  • 58% of fire safety audits in England in 2024/25 were judged satisfactory.

Fire in care homes: the highest-stakes setting

Care homes combine two critical danger elements: vulnerable occupants and commercial-building fire safety challenges. Residents face mobility limitations, cognitive impairment or care dependency, all of which complicate emergency evacuation. The sector experienced 433 fires in hospitals and medical care facilities in 2024/25 — 6.5% of all UK workplace fires.

Care homes received the second-highest enforcement notice volume of any premises type, with 192 enforcement notices issued in 2024/25. The seriousness of failure is reflected in recent prosecutions: one healthcare organisation faced approximately £95,000 in fines and costs for fire safety breaches on a hospital mental health ward.

The care home fire risk profile

Unlike most workplaces, a care home cannot rely on residents simply walking out when the alarm sounds. The fire safety strategy has to account for people who may be asleep, immobile or wholly dependent on staff, at any hour of the day or night. That places compounded demands on detection, compartmentation and staffing.

  • Residents unable to self-evacuate due to advanced dementia, severe disability, oxygen dependency or post-operative status.
  • Approximately 41% of care home fires originate in cooking and kitchen areas, making the kitchen the single biggest ignition source.
  • Sleeping accommodation, which requires heightened detection and frequent drills — including realistic night-time scenarios.
  • Medical equipment that introduces specific oxygen-enrichment risks, accelerating any fire that does start.
  • Multiple agencies and contractors on site, requiring clear allocation of fire safety responsibility.

The age profile of residents matters too. Across England, 39% of all fire-related fatalities were people aged 65 and over, and the fire fatality rate rises sharply with age — reaching around 13.8 per million for those aged 80 and over. This is why 85% of all Home Fire Safety Visits in 2024/25 targeted households with vulnerable persons.

Compliance and enforcement

Care homes received 192 enforcement notices, representing approximately 11% of all enforcement notices issued in 2024/25 — maintaining second place behind shops, and up from 189 the previous year. Nationally, only 58% of fire safety audits in England were judged satisfactory, underlining how often premises fall short. The most common breaches in the care sector relate to the core duties of the Regulatory Reform (Fire Safety) Order 2005:

  • Article 14 — emergency routes and exits kept clear and usable.
  • Article 15 — evacuation procedures and Personal Emergency Evacuation Plans (PEEPs).
  • Article 8 — general fire precautions to protect occupants.
Measure (care homes, England)FigureNote
Fires in hospitals & medical care facilities4336.5% of UK workplace fires
Enforcement notices, 2024/251922nd highest of any premises type
Enforcement notices, 2023/24189~11% of all notices
Care home fires from cooking~41%Biggest ignition source
Fire deaths aged 65+ (all England)39%Of all fire fatalities
Satisfactory fire safety audits58%England, 2024/25

Prosecution cases: the consequences of failure

The financial and legal consequences of poor fire safety in care settings are severe and well documented. Recent cases include:

  • Cardiff and Vale University Health Board — approximately £95,000 in fines and costs (September 2025) for non-compliance with enforcement notices relating to a hospital mental health ward.
  • Morven Healthcare Ltd (Morven House care home) — a £45,000 fine plus £23,000 in costs for blocked exits, an outdated fire risk assessment, inadequate detection and a missing emergency plan.
  • Rangemore Nursing Home — a 12-month suspended sentence plus 200 hours of community service for the responsible person.

By comparison, the cost of training a competent team of fire wardens and keeping a fire risk assessment current is negligible — and is precisely what these cases turned on.

What good fire safety in care homes looks like

Effective care home fire safety is built on a small number of well-executed fundamentals:

  • A suitable and sufficient fire risk assessment that explicitly addresses resident vulnerabilities.
  • Individual Personal Emergency Evacuation Plans (PEEPs) for non-ambulatory residents.
  • A Progressive Horizontal Evacuation strategy that uses fire compartmentation to move residents to safety within the building.
  • Specialised fire marshal training for staff so they can lead an evacuation confidently.
  • Appropriate fire drills, including night-time drills to test the response of night staff, when staffing is lowest.

Sources & references

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Mark McShane
Mark McShane
Fire Safety Training Specialist, Online CPD Academy

Mark writes about workplace fire safety, compliance and accredited training for Fire Marshal Training, part of Online CPD Academy.