Dhaka: The country witnessed a surge in fire incidents in 2025, with a total of 27,059 cases – an average of 75 fires every single day.
According to Bangladesh Sangbad Sangstha, a press release from the Fire Service and Civil Defense (FSCD) reported that electrical faults alone accounted for 34.7 percent of all incidents, emerging as the leading cause of fires nationwide.
The fires resulted in 85 fatalities and 267 injuries, while causing an estimated property loss of Tk 569.97 crore. However, timely firefighting efforts managed to save property valued at Tk 3,263.62 crore. The Fire Service identified electrical faults as the primary cause of fires, leading to 9,392 incidents, which constitutes 34.71% of the total.
Other significant causes included burning pieces of bidi-cigarettes (4,269 incidents), stoves (2,909 incidents), gas cylinder leakage (920 incidents), and gas supply line leakage (562 incidents). Additional incidents were triggered by gas cylinder explosions, chemical accidents, children playing with fire, hot ashes, electric coils, and firecrackers.
Homes and residential buildings were the most affected locations, with 8,705 fires, representing 32.17 percent of the total. Fires were also significantly reported in haystacks (3,922), shops (1,800), haat markets (1,067), shopping malls (617), and garment factories (665). Fires occurred in hospitals, educational institutions, mosques, temples, slums, power substations, and industrial warehouses as well.
The transportation sector experienced fires in 153 buses, 216 other vehicles, 10 trains, four launches, two ships, and one training aircraft. Seasonal data indicated that fires were most frequent during the dry months, with the highest numbers reported in March (3,522), followed by April (3,035), February (2,885), December (2,724), and January (2,708). During these months, an average of 123 fires per day was recorded.
Casualty analysis showed that men accounted for the majority of both injuries and deaths, with 197 men and 70 women injured, and 46 men and 39 women losing their lives. The highest number of casualties occurred in residential buildings, chemical accidents, and aircraft-related fires.
In addition to firefighting, the Fire Service and Civil Defense carried out 1,071 diving operations, rescuing 70 injured persons and recovering 585 bodies. In total, the agency responded to 10,140 accidents, rescuing 10,333 injured individuals and recovering 1,756 dead bodies, with road accidents accounting for the majority.
To enhance prevention, the Fire Service inspected 10,533 buildings as part of its fire safety survey, finding 622 to be highly risky, 3,316 risky, and 6,595 satisfactory. Furthermore, 192 mobile courts were conducted, leading to fines of Tk 1.94 lakh against 179 organizations, while cases were filed against eight others.
The Fire Service also conducted 15,865 exercises, 3,722 fire drills, and provided basic fire safety training to over 173,800 people nationwide. Special training was given to 156,840 garment workers, along with the creation and refresher training of hundreds of community volunteers. The Fire Service and Civil Defense emphasized the necessity for increased public awareness and strict adherence to fire safety measures to mitigate future losses.
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