Ten people were dead and 27 were injured in 1,475 fire incidents that occurred across Bangladesh last month (October 2023), Fire Service and Civil Defence has said. Of them, 163 fire incidents occurred in Dhaka city where three persons died and 15 suffered injuries, according to a press release issued by the Fire Service today (November 07, 2023). Read: 21 arson incidents reported in 38 hrs till Monday evening: Fire Service The number of fire incidents in Dhaka increased by 8 in October, from 155 in September, reads the press release. According to the statistics, on average more than 5 fire incidents occurred per day in Dhaka city in October, and Mirpur saw most of the fires. However, monthly statistics showed that the number of fire incidents across the country decreased by 102 in October from 1,577 in September. According to the press release, 501 fire incidents occurred in Dhaka division, 55 in Mymensingh, 239 in Chattogram, 213 in Rajshahi, 149 in Khulna, 59 in Sylhet, 66 in Barishal, and 193 in Rangpur last month. Read: Fire Service records 12 arson incidents across country in 11 hrs till Sunday morning As many as 167 people were dead and 830 were injured in other accidents, and the fire service participated in rescue operations involving 846 incidents, it said. Of them, 690 were road accidents, according to the press release. Apart from this, there were 10 accidents caused by gas cylinder explosions, 13 due to faults in gas lines, 21 elevator accidents, 3 lightning incidents, and 58 drowning incidents. Thirty-eight people drowned in rivers, ponds and other water bodies across the country last month. Among them, 44 occurred in Dhaka city areas alone, killing 8 and injuring 7. Read: Mob sets fire to Fire Service vehicle in Dhaka's Shahjahanpur The fire service also said their offices across the country provided services responding to 4,817 calls over incidents of fire and accidents in October. Besides, the fire service also provided ambulance services in response to 1,139 calls. In the month of October, 1,164 patients were transported and provided services across the country.

Fire incidents were reported from  Lalbagh, Tejgaon, Sadarghat and Mohammadpur areas in Dhaka in the early hours of Sunday due to use of sky lanterns for New Year celebrations, according to Fire Service. Besides, Adabar area of the city faced blackout as lanterns fell on electrical lines and fire spread on the wires around 12am, said Fire Service and Civil Defence Control Room Duty Officer Ershad Hossain. However, no injuries or causalities were reported. In Sadarghat, a fire broke out at the hawkers market from a sky lantern fell from a nearby building. Later, two units of fire fighters rushed to the spot, but it was doused by locals. Fire broke out in a building at Lalbagh and another building at Tajgaon which were also doused soon. However, the fire that broke out in a  multi-storied building at Mohammadpur was massive and fire fighters doused the fire after a frantic effort, said the duty officer. Read more: No outdoor celebrations on 31st night: DMP Commissioner Meanwhile, a fire broke out in Adabar area as a lantern fell on an electric line, causing blackout in the entire area, he added. “It is not known whether electricity supply was restored there or not.” Last year, around 10 fire incidents were reported on the 31st Night. Dhaka dwellers used firecrackers and flew sky lanterns (fanush) on the 31st night despite Dhaka Metropolitan Police’s (DMP) restrictions. Read more: People remain indoors as fireworks light the sky to usher in New Year

The number of fire incidents in Bangladesh has increased four times over the last two decades as the country’s urban areas are expanding without basic infrastructure like fire stations. According to data provided by the Fire Service and Civil Defence, around 285,000 fires occurred in the country between January 1, 1999 and December 31, 2020. These fire incidents also caused an estimated financial loss of around Tk6,900 crore to the nation. Besides, at least 2,308 people were killed in fires across the country between 2004 and 2020, the fire service data shows. The year 2019 saw the highest number of 24,074 fire incidents while 2020 the second highest of 21,073. 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 the high risk of fires for lack of proper urban fire safety systems. Read: Fire incidents in Bangladesh triple in 22 years 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. Three major causes As per the statistics of the Fire Service and Civil Defence, around 99,752 fires occurred in the country between January 1, 2016 and December 31, 2020. Of them, 71,684 or over 71 percent of fires originated from electric disturbances, different types of burners and burning cigarettes in the last five years. Of the total incidents, 37,044 (37 percent) originated from electric disturbances while 19,124 (19.17 percent) from different types of burners and 15,536 (15.57 percent) from burning cigarettes. Contacted, Prof Mehedi Ahmed Ansari of the Civil Engineering department at Bangladesh University of Engineering and Technology (Buet) said electric short-circuit is the main reason behind the rise in fire incidents in urban areas as most buildings are not constructed maintaining the building code. He said other reasons for the fire are associated with people’s lack of awareness. “An effective campaign to raise public awareness in this regard should be launched across the country.” Read: Padma boat tragedy: Death toll rises to 4 The expert said electric equipment should be inspected periodically to reduce the chances of fire.

A minor girl and a mentally-retarded youth who suffered burn injuries in separate incidents of fire in Sundarganj and Sadullapur upazila of Gaibandha, died at Rangpur Medical College Hospital early Thursday.