London fire brigade targets danger areas with software

Fires can be prevented with better analysis of information

The London Fire Brigade is using new software to predict the most likely locations of future fires.

The service said the system will allow it to target its education strategy more effectively.

The software from SAS analyses demographic information, geographical locations, historical data, land-use and deprivation levels to identify high risk areas.

Andy Mobbs, risk information manager at London Fire Brigade said: "We are the first brigade to use such sophisticated analytics as part of our efforts, and SAS’ software enables us to base our decisions on real facts rather than second guessing.”

Previously the service used much simpler historical data.