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29 March 2024

Your cigarette or shisha could start a fire

Published
By Mohammad El Sadafy

Unsafe habits and carelessness caused 27 per cent or 107 of the total of 394 fires that broke out in Dubai in the first 11 months of 2012, according to fire experts at Dubai Police’s Department of Criminal Evidence and Criminology.

These habits include throwing cigarette butts and burning shisha coal from the upper floors of buildings.

Cigarette butts and burning shisha coal caused 55 or 13.9 per cent of the fires in Dubai during the first 11 months of last year.One of the main reasons for fires in homes was the habit of leaving home with incense burning in wardrobes, which is done to make clothes smell good. Three fires broke out in a particular home during a short period because of this habit, a fire expert said. Burning incense caused 22 or 5.5 per cent of the fires in the first 11 months of 2012.

Statistics indicate that another main reason for fires was that some bachelors sharing houses sometimes leave their cooking stoves on. Cooking appliances and other thermal devices like heaters used by bachelors caused 30 fires or 7.6 per cent of the total.

Some communities leave candles burning after their religious rituals which have also resulted in fires.

Fire expert Mahmoud Al Shahat said unsecured electric connections can also cause fires. Short circuits caused 151 fires in the first 11 months of 2012.

Air conditioners operating at the lower temperature of 17 degrees Celsius may cause a short circuit leading to fire. The temperature should preferably be 23 or 25 degrees C.

Meanwhile, fire investigation experts at Dubai Police’s Department of Criminal Evidence and Criminology called on municipalities, civil defence, property developers, building contractors and engineers in UAE to take advantage of their reports.

The four members of the team are Mohammed Abu Eita, Magdi Mohamed Kamel, Ahmed Mohammed Ahmed and Mahmoud Mustafa El Shahat. Some of them have more than 25 years’ experience in this field.

Mahmoud El Shahat said the reports show where the fires started, their causes and how the fires spread. The reports include recommendations to avoid fires. Building materials like bitumen have caused fires in many buildings, he added.

Shahat said the experts' reports are sent only to those who seek them, like the police, public prosecutor and courts. Other authorities should seek the fire experts’ reports to develop building specifications, he added.