Haphazardly discarded cigarette butts were the second most common cause of fires in 2017, according to new figures from Dubai Civil Defence.
According to the statistics, cigarette butts were linked to 14 of 465 fires that required a civil defence response in 2017.
The single most significant cause of fires was found to be faulty wiring and electrics, which caused 69 fires throughout the year.
Fires in Dubai led to seven deaths last year, along with 68 members of the public and 12 firefighters who were injured during blazes in the emirate.
Of the fires reported in Dubai, 149 (32 percent) took place in warehouses and commercial shops, compared to 126 in villas and 90 in residential buildings.
The average response time of Dubai Civil Defence is 7.7 minutes, while the average “incident completion” time is 20.7 minutes, according to the statistics.
Speaking to reporters on Saturday, Dubai Civil Defence Director-General Rashid Thani Al Matroushi noted that local emergency response crews have become particularly adept at responding to fires in high-rise residential structures.
“Dubai became a unique example in fighting high tower blazes,” he said. ‘Though we had some blazes in towers last year, we recorded zero deaths because of linking the towers to the command centre and installing fire safety equipment. The casualties in Dubai were from home fires, not in tower fires.”
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