Mr DS, I'm surprised at you! You normally give a very rational and professional point of view, yet here you are just giving a 'sensational' headline followed by a weighted prod towards your viewpoint.
Statistics are meaningless, unless the data is collected and collated under extremely controlled conditions. Also the full article states as the main cause:
"The increase is thought to be because many homes have fuse boards with components which are subject to a product recall."
It does give the other reasons releating to poor wiring and firms using moulded plastic but it intimates that the main reason is as above.
I'd be interested as to what your "????????????" imply?
If it is aimed at Electrical Trainee, then I'm sure you are probably partly right, but from the article it looks like the main reason is due to poor product recall of faulty parts.