Are cooking fires still a risk?

Yes. Cooking is the most common cause of house fires and cooktop fires are set to become a bigger risk in the future, for some key reasons:

• Dementia is rising across Europe – in the UK alone around 1 million people have dementia today, a figure set to reach 2 million by 2050.
• Induction hobs are highly efficient and are now inexpensive and popular, but a fire can occur much more quickly with an induction hob.
• The population is ageing and a person over 80 is twice as likely to have a cooking fire as those in younger age groups.
• Gas is likely to be phased out for sustainability reasons. Cooking fires are twice as likely on electric hobs than on gas.