Do home fire and safety checks by on-duty firefighters decrease the number of fires?: Quasi-experimental evidence from Southern Sweden
2019 (English)In: Journal of Safety Research, ISSN 0022-4375, E-ISSN 1879-1247, Vol. 70, p. 39-47Article in journal (Refereed) Published
Abstract [en]
Introduction: Fire and rescue services Syd, in the south of Sweden, started to conduct home fire and safety checks on a large scale in 2010. The goal was to reduce the damages from residential fires. Method: We estimate the effects of the intervention on the incidence of residential fires and evaluate its economic effect. We use a difference-in-kinks design to analyze time-varying intervention effects and conduct a cost–benefit analysis for the economic evaluation. Results: The results demonstrate that fires and developed fires decrease by a maximum of approximately 6% and 8% per year (assuming 100% causality)and that the intervention has positive economic effects, with the benefits estimated to be maximum 8–11 times higher than the costs. Practical applications: The results should be valuable as input when deciding whether to implement home fire and safety checks elsewhere.
Place, publisher, year, edition, pages
Elsevier, 2019. Vol. 70, p. 39-47
Keywords [en]
Cost–benefit analysis, Fire prevention, Public education, Residential fires, Smoke alarms, Alarm systems, Costs, Economic analysis, Economic and social effects, Fireproofing, Fires, Housing, Smoke, Benefit analysis, Cost benefit analysis
National Category
Economics and Business
Research subject
Economics; Risk and Environmental Studies
Identifiers
URN: urn:nbn:se:kau:diva-73332DOI: 10.1016/j.jsr.2019.04.006ISI: 000506724300006OAI: oai:DiVA.org:kau-73332DiVA, id: diva2:1334209
2019-07-022019-07-022020-05-26Bibliographically approved