23rd July 2015

- The New Indian Express

More Homes Catch Fire Than Factories

CHENNAI: It’s households and not commercial establishments or factories that contributed to a majority of fire accidents in Tamil Nadu last year, going by the statistics released by the National Crime Records Bureau (NCRB).

The data, essentially complied based on the number of FIRs registered by the State police, show that of the 1,594 persons killed in the fire mishaps in Tamil Nadu in 2014, fires at residential buildings were responsible for 690 deaths.

This is over 43 per cent of the casualties. In contrast, only 10 lives were lost in fire accidents at match factories in the State, which is known for frequent fire accidents in belts like Sivakasi. In other types of factories, there was just one case recorded in which only one person was injured. Commercial buildings witnessed just 11 cases of fire accidents costing the lives of 10 persons.
“Even in residences, the main reason for fire accidents is electricity leak. People are careless with electrical appliances. Many don’t bother to switch off electrical appliances, which is the main reason for such accidents,” says a senior official with the Fire and Rescue Services.

Women are the victims in a majority of the cases. Out of the 690 victims of fire accidents in households, 421 are women.