In the latest report by The Center of Fire Statistics, the distribution of fires in 2017 show that 37,7 % of fires occurred in structures. That is distressing news because individuals spend most of their time in buildings of all sorts – we are surrounded by potential dangers all day. With this in mind, equally important is the rate at which a fire can spread across a structure. According to Fire Safe Europe, the European Association for Fire Safety in Buildings, only 3 minutes is all it takes for a fire to completely engulf an entire space. Furthermore, Fire Safe Europe shares that in Europe every year 4000 lives are lost in fires, which is 11 deaths per day; correspondingly, 190 people are hospitalized every day with serious health damages from fire-related accidents. As a result, extreme amounts of funds go to fire expenses every year – 126 billion euros or 1% of European GDP [1].
Given these points, it is important to adequately react to statistical data. In the field of fire safety, statistics help to highlight the current situation and trends, as well as welcome the necessary changes in various areas related to fire safety and public wellbeing in general.
Fire safety trends for the year 2017
The Center of Fire Statistics (CFS) of International Association of Fire and Rescue Services (CTIF) presents its latest report №24, containing fire statistics of many CTIF countries and their larger cities for 2017 and trends for 2013-2017. The study involves statistics on figures and rates of fire, fire-related fatalities and accidents, and on-duty firefighter deaths and accidents, whether or not sustained by fire.
The fire and loss statistics for 2017 are based on data from 34 countries and 35 of the cities in the World. Data on calls, fires and losses during 2013-2017 are provided from 59 countries that have supplied data for one or more of the five years in 2013- 2017 [2].
Table 1 shows 1993-2017 total fire statistics from 27-57 countries, collectively representing 0.9-3.8 billion inhabitants of the Earth, depending on the year of reporting. In these countries 2.5-4.5 million fires and 17-62 thousand fire deaths were reported to fire services, depending on the year.
Table 2 shows common indicators of fire statistics in 2017. The highest number of fires took place in Austria with 5,5 fires per every thousand inhabitants. Most deaths related to fire accidents have occurred in Russia, with 5,3 deaths per 100000 inhabitants and 5,9 deaths per 100 fires.
Figure 1 shows the highest fire death rates per 100 fires (average meaning for 2013-2017) are found in Belarus, Taiwan and Latvia. The smallest death rate per 100 fires is found in Lichtenstein, Slovenia, Israel and Austria.
As seen in Figure 2, the highest number of fires – 37,7 % – occurred in structures, i.e., buildings. Second most common place of fire incidents was in grass and brush – 20,4 %. The least amount of fires had ensued in forests –1,6 % .
To summarize, it is evident from the statistical data that fire accidents are severely damaging in terms of human lives and material resources. Therefore it is crucial to take preventative measures where it is possible. For example, using fire-retardant construction materials when building structures can effectively reduce the spread of fire. For this reason, Knauf FireWin offers a variety of products as a fire protection solution.
Sources:
- https://firesafeeurope.eu
- https://www.ctif.org/index.php/news/world-fire-statistics-issue-no-24-2019
- https://www.ctif.org/world-fire-statistics
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