The total number of fires in Scotland for 2011/12 was 32,304, down 17% on 2010/11, according to provisional statistics.

However, fire fatalities increased by 10% to 57 (38 men and 19 women), which is still the third-lowest number in 10 years.

Fifty-one people were killed in house fires, with 47 of the fatalities in blazes that started accidentally.

Almost half of these accidental fires (45%) where someone was killed were caused by smokers' materials and matches, while 14 people died and 292 people were injured in accidental house fires in which alcohol or drugs are thought to have contributed.

Of all house fires that began by accident, alcohol is thought to have been involved in around one in six of them (17%), or 860 cases, the Scottish Government figures show.

Meanwhile, a 26-year-old mother, who was badly injured in a fire in Dryden Street, Edinburgh, on September 26, has died in hospital. Her five-month-old daughter suffered minor injuries.A 59-year-old woman is in a serious, but stable condition in St John's Hospital, Livingston.