The National Fire Authority (NFA) is concerned with the increase in residential house fires during the festive month of December.
NFA Acting Chief Executive Officer, Aseri Radrodro says people should be mindful that one of the leading causes of fire during the festive season is a direct result of negligence.
“Simple distractions can easily lead to fires,” Mr Radrodro said.
““During the month of December, fires caused by electrical faults, arson related, unattended cooking and children left unsupervised by parents or family members are the common causes of home fires.
“People should always ensure that they pay more attention to these fire causes as it can only takes a spark that can build up easily into fire when it gets ignited with any sort of ignition and within minutes the property will be engulfed in flames.
“It is also important for parents to closely monitor their children during this school holiday,” Mr Radrodro said.
The NFA has attended to four structural fires this month against four structural fires in December last year and the total number of structural fires is 104 to date as compared to 216 for last year.
“We can avoid structural fires by taking extra care and taking heed of NFA’s fire preventative messages such as:
? Do not leave children unsupervised at home, if you are cooking food or doing other household activities you must ensure that an adult is watching your children.
?Do not engage in multiple chores whilst cooking food or any other household activities when the fire is burning in the home.
? Do not connect multiple electrical appliances into one power socket as this can cause short-circuits. If you have purchased a second hand electrical item, you must have it certified by a certified FEA electrical contractor before using it at home.
“We want people to be more proactive taking into account that homes which were destroyed this year were as a result of the same causes and we hope that the general public will take heed of these fire preventative messages and be more careful during Christmas and New Year period to avoid losing their homes or property by fire,” Mr Radrodro added.