Dhaka: The incidence of fires is increasing every year. Some are losing everything in the event of death as well as fire. Property worth crores of taka is being lost in fire every year. Last year there was a terrible picture of fire in the country; there were 21,601 fire incidents. It has caused a loss of more than 218 crore. In addition, 219 people were killed and 570 injured.
The data for the year 2021 was published on the website of the Fire Service and Civil Defense last Tuesday (February 8). The information was released by the fire service after analyzing various incidents including the cause of the fire, damage, rescue and casualties.
According to the fire service, out of 20 causes, most of the fires were caused by electrical disturbances, stoves and Bidi- cigarettes. Of these, 7,955 fires were due to electrical disturbances, 3,922 from stove fires and 3,193 from burning cigarette butts.
403 for use of open lights, 479 for hot ash / fuel, 58 for children playing with fire, 170 for friction of instruments, 18 for hostility and disorderly mobs, 18 for lightning and other natural disasters, 8 for lightning and other natural disasters, 16 for burning fireworks, 94 for overheating. 8 fires, 10 from spontaneous ignition, 11 from chimney sparks, 6 from static electricity, 11 from chemical reactions, 105 from explosions (cylinders, boilers, etc.), 69 from gas supply line fires, 279 fires due to vehicle accidents. Besides, 3,261 fires were reported due to various reasons.
A total of 219 people were killed in fires last year, according to figures released by the fire service. Besides, 570 people were injured. The death toll did not rise in the fire service's figures.
In this regard, the officer in charge of the media cell of the Fire Service and Civil Defense when asked Shahjahan Sikder said, "We only keep track of the scene." Outside of that we don’t keep a death survey after being taken to hospital. However, in case of any major accident, our people are given to the hospital, they keep an account and we add that account to the statistics. However, the official said that normally the accounts are not kept except at the scene.
The fire service has named 29 places of fire in their figures. It shows that most fires occur in homes / residential buildings, kitchens and shops. Last year, there were 5,618 fires in houses / residential buildings, 3,544 in kitchens, 1,064 in shops, grocers, tongs etc. Besides, 143 in multi-storey buildings, 458 in shopping malls and markets, 610 in hat-bazaars, 160 in garment industry (export oriented), 95 in garment industry (local), 362 in other factories, 119 in jute warehouses and jute mills, 17 in KPI fires, 1 in educational institutions. There were 52 fires, 95 fires in banks, insurance and other offices, 263 fires in hotels, motels and restaurants, 91 fires in hospitals and 25 fires in basements.
In this way, fires are happening in the country every year due to various unknown reasons and loss of life and property.
A recent report by the Center for Policy Dialogue (CPD), a non-governmental research organization, entitled "Workplace: Fire Accidents and Workers' Safety: Where Are the Elimination Measures?" 283 people were burnt or injured. According to the report, an average of one fire occurs every two days.
CPD research director Khandaker Golam Moazzem told Barta24.com that 53 people were killed in a fire at Sajib Group's Hashem Foods factory in Narayanganj on July 8 last year. Besides, a total of 82 fire accidents have taken place till last December. In all, 127 people were killed and 283 were injured. Most of the casualties are victims of fire accidents. The highest number of accidents occurred in Dhaka, Narayanganj, Gazipur and Chattogram.
Golam Moazzem said shopping malls / markets, educational institutions and the healthcare sector were the three areas most at risk of fire accidents. Inspection of factories should be increased.
He said the government has taken a step to inspect the factory through bidder coordination. They were to visit 5,000 factories between October and December last year. But they have visited only 875 factories till January 10. He commented that this is not satisfactory at all.