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Warehouse Fires: High Value, High Risk
The UK's warehousing and logistics sector is a high-fire-risk environment. Large open-plan spaces packed with combustible goods, high racking systems that support rapid vertical fire spread, complex electrical systems under sustained operational load, and a 24/7 operational model that reduces the time available for maintenance and inspection — together these create conditions in which fires, when they start, can grow very fast and cause very large losses.
Preventable warehouse fires have been specifically linked to £1 billion in GDP losses and 5,000 job losses over five years in the UK. Industrial premises — the MHCLG category that encompasses factories, warehouses, manufacturing plants, and storage facilities — account for approximately 25% of all UK workplace fires, the highest share of any single sector. For the broader context see our Fire Statistics UK: The Definitive Guide.
Key Facts & Figures (Overview)
- Industrial premises (including warehouses) accounted for approximately 25% of all UK workplace fires in 2024/25 — the highest share of any workplace category (1,656 fires)
- Preventable warehouse fires have cost the UK economy an estimated £1 billion in GDP and 5,000 jobs over five years
- UK businesses make fire property insurance claims of approximately £940 million annually — industrial and logistics premises contribute a disproportionate share given the high value of warehouse contents
- The average major fire costs a UK business £657,074 — in a large warehouse, actual losses can run to multiples of this figure
- Electrical distribution faults — the leading identifiable cause of workplace fires overall — are particularly significant in warehouses given the sustained high electrical load of racking systems, conveying equipment, charging stations, and climate control
- Arson targeting industrial premises is a persistent risk — warehouses and storage facilities are among the most common targets for opportunistic and targeted deliberate fire-setting
- Lithium-ion battery fires — from forklift trucks, racking system power units, and electric vehicle charging — represent a rapidly growing fire risk category in UK warehouses
- Only 58% of fire safety audits in England in 2024/25 were satisfactory — indicating significant ongoing compliance failures across the business estate
- Warehouses that do not recover within one month of a serious fire have an 80% chance of permanent closure
Warehouse Fire Causes
The fire risk landscape in warehouses is distinct from other commercial settings:
Electrical distribution failures: The leading identifiable cause of workplace fires generally (18% of all incidents) is particularly significant in warehouses given the scale and intensity of electrical systems in use. Large distribution warehouses operate extensive conveyor and automated storage systems, substantial lighting and heating loads, battery charging banks for electric forklifts, and increasingly electric vehicle charging infrastructure. All of these create sustained high electrical loads on systems that may not have been designed with that load in mind.
Hot work: Welding, cutting, and grinding activities — whether from maintenance teams or contractors — generate sparks that can ignite stored combustible materials at considerable distance. Hot work was responsible for over 180 fires nationally in 2024/25, with warehouses and industrial premises the primary settings. Hot work permit systems are the critical control for this hazard.
Forklift trucks and battery charging: Conventional forklift truck battery charging generates hydrogen gas — an explosive mixture that can accumulate in inadequately ventilated charging areas. Li-ion battery-powered forklifts and other equipment introduce thermal runaway risk — fires that start inside the battery, are extremely difficult to extinguish, and can reignite hours after apparent suppression.
Arson: Warehouses are frequent arson targets — open-sided storage areas, perimeter gaps, and large volumes of combustible goods make them vulnerable. Deliberate fire-setting from the perimeter of a warehouse property, using adjacent stored materials as an ignition source, is a common arson pattern. Physical security and combustible material management are the primary controls.
Goods in storage: Certain product categories carry specific fire risk — aerosol products, solvents, cleaning chemicals, timber, paper and cardboard, textiles, and plastics all burn differently and at different rates. The specific fire risk of stored goods must be assessed and managed.
Why Warehouse Fires Are So Costly
Several structural features of warehouses make fires in them particularly expensive and difficult to control:
Scale: Modern distribution warehouses are among the largest buildings in the UK building stock. A fire in a warehouse without adequate fire compartmentation or suppression can achieve very large dimensions very quickly.
Racking and vertical fire spread: High-bay racking systems — sometimes 20 or 30 metres high — provide a vertical pathway for rapid fire spread. Fire ascending through rack storage can outpace manual suppression efforts almost immediately.
Value density: Modern warehouses store high-value goods in concentrated space. A single distribution centre may hold tens or hundreds of millions of pounds worth of stock.
Business interruption: A warehouse fire does not just destroy what is in the building — it disrupts the entire supply chain that depends on it. Customers expecting deliveries face shortages; contracts are failed; supplier relationships are damaged; and the revenue loss during the months or years of rebuilding can exceed the physical loss.
Suppression challenges: Many warehouse fires cannot be tackled by employees with portable extinguishers — the fire is too large, too high, or too hot for manual intervention by the time it is detected. Only automatic suppression systems (sprinklers) are effective at the scale and speed at which warehouse fires can develop.
The Sprinkler Gap
The UK has one of the lower rates of sprinkler installation in warehouse buildings among comparable developed nations. Sprinklers are the most effective passive fire suppression system available — they activate automatically, target the seat of the fire, and suppress or control fires before they become unmanageable.
The case for sprinklers in warehouses is overwhelming from both safety and financial perspectives: buildings with working sprinkler systems very rarely suffer fire deaths; fire losses in sprinklered buildings are a small fraction of equivalent losses in unsprinklered buildings; and insurance premiums for sprinklered buildings reflect the substantially reduced risk.
Despite this, many UK warehouses — particularly older buildings and those occupied by SME tenants — are not sprinklered. The cost of retrofitting sprinklers is often cited as a barrier, but the cost-benefit analysis against the average £657,074 major fire loss and the 25% permanent closure rate is straightforwardly positive for most warehouse operators.
Legal Obligations for Warehouse Fire Safety
Under the Regulatory Reform (Fire Safety) Order 2005, the Responsible Person for a warehouse (typically the employer or building occupier) must:
- Conduct a suitable and sufficient fire risk assessment addressing all warehouse-specific hazards
- Implement and maintain appropriate fire precautions — including detection systems, suppression systems, escape routes, and fire doors
- Provide fire safety information and training to all employees
- Appoint and train fire marshals appropriate to the scale and occupancy of the premises
- Maintain records of all fire safety activities and equipment testing
For warehouses storing certain categories of hazardous goods, additional requirements apply under the Dangerous Substances and Explosive Atmospheres Regulations 2002 (DSEAR).
Written by Fire Safety Experts
This guide was produced by the team at Fire Marshal Training, a UK provider of RoSPA and CPD-accredited fire safety training. Warehouses represent one of the most demanding fire safety environments — requiring fire marshals who understand the scale of the risk, the speed of potential fire development, and the limitations of manual suppression in large industrial settings. Our training equips warehouse fire marshals and safety managers with that knowledge. For related data see our Fire Statistics UK: The Definitive Guide, Workplace Fire Statistics UK, Arson Statistics UK, and Cost of Fire to UK Businesses.
