AN ANALYSIS OF FATAL BUILDING FIRES IN NORWAY 1978-1992
Yearly, between 50 and 70 persons die in building fires in Norway. This number of fire victims has been unchanged, even though smoke detectors has been obligatory equipment in residential buildings since 1. January 1991. Why is there no change in the fire death statistics? Has the introduction of smoke detectors in homes had no effect? Or has the characteristics describing fatal fires changed?
NBL has performed an analysis of building fires in Norway during the period 1978-1992 where human lives are lost. The analysis covers 533 fires with a total of 653 victims. The fires have been analysed to find how fatal fires can be characterised. Important factors are how the victims can be described, what buildings are burning, where, when and why the fatal fires are starting, and to what extent smoke detectors have affected the fire statistics. The results from this analysis have been compared to results from a similar NBL-project, where 306 fatal building fires during the period 1970-79 were analysed.
The results from the analysis show that many factors have remained unchanged since earlier years. The typical fire victim is an elderly man, he is alone when the fire starts, and consequently, he is the only victim of the fire. The victim is often under influence of alcohol or drugs, and the probability that he is handicapped is also significant. About
30 % of the analysed fatal fires were initiated by cigarette smoking. More than 60 % of the victims die of smoke poisoning. More than half of the female victims are older than 67 years.
Other factors describing fatal fires have been changed. There is a clear reduction in the number of victims aged 0-7 years during the period 1978-1992. There is also a small increase in the number of elderly fire victims. This is partly connected to the fact that there are fewer children and more elderly persons in the Norwegian population today than 15-20 years ago, but the changes in the death fire statistics cannot be explained by this alone. NBL concludes that the reduction in the youngest group of fire victims is related to the extended installation of smoke detectors in residences. Families with small children are used to thinking safety, and therefore smoke detectors may be more common in their homes than in others. The increase in the number of elderly victims, we believe is a result of an increase in the number of old persons who live alone and are dependent of external assistance to manage their daily life. These persons will have little or no possibility to save themselves in case of a fire.
There is also an evident increase of victims who are described as mentally disturbed. This group includes persons with psychiatric diseases, deeply depressed persons and persons suffering from senility. The number of fatal fires where the police suspects the victims to have performed suicide, has also shown a remarkable increase the last years of the analysed period.
The results have shown that there was a smoke detector installed in 44 % of the fatal fires after the new regulations were valid. 10 % of these detectors did not function, mostly because of missing batteries. In 20 % of the fatal fires during 1991-92, there was no smoke detector installed at all.
NBL have suggested a few actions to reduce the number of fire victims in Norway. To reduce the number of healthy victims not influenced by alcohol or drugs, information is needed. Information about smoke detectors, how to install them correctly and how to check that they will function in a fire, is important. As much as 40-50 % of all the analysed fatal fires were started because of carelessness. Information about how and why fires start and develop, is important to make people be concerned about fire safety in their own homes.
To reduce the number of victims who are disabled because of their age or physical handicaps, fire safety in the homes of such persons has to be increased. Smoke detectors can be connected to alarms which can be heard by others, who thereby can be able to rescue the disabled person from the burning building. Other alarm systems can also be considered. The responsibility for the fire safety in these homes has to be laid on the personnel who has the daily care for disabled persons.
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