Staff Reporter :
Around 21,601 fire incidents occurred in the country last year (2021), according to data provided by the Fire Service and Civil Defence.
Of these, 7,955 fires were due to electrical disturbances, 3,922 from stoves and 3,193 from burning cigarettes.
These fire incidents also caused an estimated financial loss of around Tk 218 crore to the nation.
Besides, 219 people were killed and 570 injured in these fire incidents.
The Fire Service and Civil Defence published the data on its website on February 8.
Urban experts attributed the rise in fire incidents to unplanned urbanization, the violation of rules for constructing buildings, a pervasive culture of non-enforcement of the law, carelessness of people, increased use of gas cylinders and different electronic devices and lack of supervision by the authorities concerned.
They also said people in the capital and other major cities of the country are at a high risk of fires due to a lack of proper urban fire safety systems.
The experts suggested taking immediate initiatives to ensure safety compliance of city buildings like the garment factories and raising public awareness to significantly reduce the number of fires.
A total of 219 people were killed in fires last year, according to figures released by the fire service. Besides, 570 people were injured.
