The Ministry of Interior revealed a 31 per cent drop in fire accidents in buildings and establishments in 2016, compared to the previous year.
Fire accidents dropped from 3,388 in 2015 to 2,352 in 2016, thanks to the sound directives of Lt. General HH Sheikh Saif bin Zayed AL Nahyan, Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Interior to take all measures to fight fires such as timely response to fire accidents, the introduction of modern fire prevention technology, qualified firefighters, sustained public awareness campaigns against risks of fires, and intensified efforts to meet challenges as a united team, noted Major General Jassim Mohammed Al Marzouqui, General Commander of Civil Defense at the Ministry of Interior.
"Fatalities from fires also declined from 23 in 2015 to 16 in 2016, a decrease of 52 per cent," he noted.
Fires at households went down by 7 per cent in 2016, compared to 2015 figures.
"From 2010-2014, the UAE exceeded other advanced countries in terms of the lowest number of fires and their fatalities. Fire rate for every 10.000 population was 2.19 fires, while death rate for every 10.000 population was 0.023 deaths", Al Marzouqui added.
"Raising the prevention awareness of local communities has been very significant safety factor for humans and the property. Each community member should act as the first line defense against any surrounding threats ", affirmed Al Marzouqui.
For his part Brigadier Mohammed Abdullah Al Nua'imi, director general of firefighting, protection and safety department pointed out that several measures have been taken to reduce the number of fires and their related fatalities. These measures included setting of operational plans across the civil defense departments and implementation of 1978 drills in 2016.
He added that civil defense officers were trained to carry out sudden inspection of buildings and establishments. They had visited and inspected 4,167 buildings and establishments in the first half of 2016.
Since home fires have constituted 57 percent of the total fires in 2016, the Civil defense General Command has launched an awareness initiative tilted " smoke detector is your home protector", he further noted.