Number of fire deaths may reach record levels this year

According to statistics collected by the Finnish National Rescue Association (SPEK), there have been already 20 fire deaths since the beginning of January this year. The 20th victim died in Hämeenlinna on Monday night.
      In 2006, the same figure was reached ten days later - at the turn of the months of February and March.
     
Director Matti Orrainen of SPEK comments that people apparently do not realise how fast a fire can spead. Moreover, they do not believe that a fire could come their way.
      SPEK is especially concerned about the safety of those people whose disabilities prevent them from leaving a burning building fast enough, either through their advanced years, illnesses, or the liberal use of alcohol. The majority of the 118 people who lost their lives in fires in 2006 were elderly or middle-aged men who belonged to risk groups. The figure for total fatalities was the highest for 25 years.
     
"The only way to prevent fire deaths among risk groups would be to equip their homes with automatic sprinklers", notes Orrainen.
      Director-General Pentti Partanen of the Ministry of the Interior's Department for Rescue Services regards it as vital to carry out detailed investigations into the reasons for the recent fire-related deaths.
      "Could the common factor in all these fires be found for example in the heating system of the buildings?" asks Partanen.
     
One of the long-term objectives of the Internal Security Programme, which was drawn up under the leadership of the Ministry of the Interior and completed in the summer of 2004, is to reduce the number of fire-related deaths to a maximum of six persons per one million inhabitants by 2012.
      Director of Technical Unit Hannu Olamo reports that a number of measures to strengthen the prevention of fire-related deaths have already been launched or are being planned.
     
Seppo Pekurinen from the Federation of Finnish Financial Services reports that a set of rules have been drawn up in order to persuade citizens to equip their homes with fire extinguishing systems. Homes that are equipped with automatic sprinklers could be entitled to a discount of 60 to 70 per cent on their fire insurance premiums.
      Nearly all homes in Finland should have a fire alarm, but it seems that even if the alarms exist they are not necessarily kept in working order.


Previously in HS International Edition:
  At least a hundred people have died in fires this year (7.11.2006)
  Fire deaths increase - smoking in bed most common cause (25.10.2004)

Links:
  The Finnish National Rescue Association (SPEK)
  Ministry of the Interior: Internal security
  Federation of Finnish Financial Services