At least 26,659 incidents of fire were reported in the past year in which 140 people, including two firefighters were killed and 341 people were injured, according to a report by the Bangladesh Fire Service and Civil Defence.
On an average, 73 fire incidents took place per day across the country in 2024 mostly originated from electric short circuits, burning cigarettes, stoves and gas, said the report issued on Tuesday.
Electrical malfunctions were the leading cause of the fire incidents with 9,069 fire incidents reported in 2024 while 4,139 fires were caused by burning cigarettes in 2024, making it the second most prevalent reason behind fire incidents.
At least 3,056 fire incidents originated from stoves, gas cylinder leaks caused 704 fire incidents, while 44 were caused due to cylinder explosions.
The report also revealed that properties worth about Tk 447 crore were damaged in the fires across the country in 2024.
Residential buildings faced most of the fire incidents with 7,131 fires (26.74 per cent of total incidents). Also, 4,513 fire incidents originated from haystack (16.92 per cent), and 2,411 fires broke out from kitchens (9.04 per cent).
At least 268 fire incidents reported in vehicles (excluding buses), 114 in buses, 13 in trains, and three in launches across the country in last year, the report said, adding that the fire service rescued 9,319 people and recovered 1,484 in 6,408 road accidents in the year.
The fire service conducted 9,128 rescue operations across the country. These efforts saved 10,826 injured people and recovered 2,437 deceased.
At least, 147 mobile courts imposed fines totaling Tk 2.58 crore on 149 establishments. Besides, legal action was taken against three organisations, the report added.