01 July 2013
Officials in Sharjah in the United Arab Emirates have reported that fire incidents in Sharjah were halved last year, despite experiencing a number of major fires. Sharjah Civil Defence has released new figures that show that four people died and 46 sustained injuries in fires in the Emirate last year. However, the statistics put the total number of deaths and injuries in fires and other rescue operations at 118.
There were 760 fire incidents reported in the Emirate in 2012. 153 vehicle fires topped the list followed by 152 fires in dwellings. By contrast Sharjah experienced a reduction in industrial fires in factories and warehouses and had only two cases of school fires.
Fire safety campaigns were identified as having helped to improve fire safety in the Emirate, with only 23 fire safety violations reported in the Sharjah industrial area, a place previously known for its large number of such incidents. The emphasis this year will be on residential safety campaigns.
