Short-circuits, cigarettes, burners still top 3 causes

At least 24,102 fire incidents took place last year, killing around 98 persons, including 13 firefighters, according to data released by Bangladesh Fire Service and Civil Defence yesterday.

Besides, 407 were injured in the incidents. While the number of deaths is lower than 2021's (219), more fire incidents were witnessed in 2022, as 21,601 fires were witnessed the previous year.

Fire officials, however, said the number of deaths might be higher, as many injured who died at hospitals later on remained out of their count.

Electric short-circuits were the leading cause (38.48 percent) of fire incidents, while fire from thrown away lit cigarette butts accounted for 16.08 percent.

Burners, the third-highest reason for blazes, were responsible for 13.98 percent of the incidents.

Fire officials said fire incidents from cigarette butts ranked second or third in the last couple of years, as most of the smokers drop lit butts here and there.

Behavioural changes and public awareness are needed to bring down the number of such incidents, they said.

Properties worth around Tk 342.58 crore were damaged in fires, while firefighters saved goods and properties worth Tk 1808.32 crore.

The highest number of fire incidents (6,558) took place at houses and multi-storey residential buildings, while 2,287 fires originated at kitchens, and 2,114 in shops and business outlets, according to the data.

The statistics show that fire officials last year inspected 5,869 establishments and buildings, including government ones, and found 617 buildings "very risky" and 1,606 "risky" as per the fire-safety compliance.

In 2021, fire service data revealed that between 1999 and 2020, the number of fire incidents increased by four times, as the country's urban areas continue to expand without basic fire-safety infrastructure.

Around 2,85,000 fire incidents took place in the country between January 1, 1999 and December 31, 2020, causing an estimated financial loss of around Tk 6,900 crore.

Meanwhile, between 2004 and 2020, fire accidents killed at least 2,308 people, the data show.

Experts attributed this rise to unplanned urbanisation, violation of building-construction rules, a culture of non-enforcement of the law, carelessness, increased use of gas cylinders and different electronic devices, and lack of supervision by the authorities concerned.