DETAILS OF FIRES 1991-1993

Mr Lew Syn Pau asked the Minister for Home Affairs if he will provide the following details of fires which took place from 1991 to 1993: (i) the dates of fires; (ii) the locations of the fires; (iii) the types of premises involved, viz - (a) landed residential properties; (b) pre-war shophouses; (c) medium-rise flats (up to 10 storeys or as according to the limit used); (d) high-rise flats; (e) offices; (f) hotels, entertainment complexes, etc; (g) factories; (h) shipyards; (i) others; (iv) the causes of the fires; (v) the estimated value of property lost; (vi) the number of lives lost; and (vii) the causes of death, eg, suffocation, burns, etc.

Mr Wong Kan Seng: There were a total of 16,566 fires for the period 1991 to 1993. These fires range from small fires (eg. kitchen fires) to large fires (eg. factory fires). The information requested is as follows:-

Annex A - The number of fires in each month;

Annex B - The number of fires in various types of premises;

Annex C - The causes of the fires;

Annex D - The estimated value of property damaged in the fires; and

Annex E - The number of fatalities and injuries in the fires and the causes of death. ANNEX A NO. OF FIRES BY MONTH 1991 TO 1993 _________________________________________________________________ MONTH/YEAR 1991 1992 1993 _________________________________________________________________ JAN 474 472 553 FEB 679 530 671 MAR 658 469 476 APR 394 447 388 MAY 311 394 431 JUN 440 353 362 JUL 487 351 411 AUG 537 472 591 SEP 475 447 535 OCT 583 462 436 NOV 367 328 430 DEC 335 377 440 _________________________________________________________________ TOTAL 5740 5102 5724 _________________________________________________________________ ANNEX B PLACES OF FIRES 1991 TO 1993 _________________________________________________________________ TYPE OF PROPERTY/YEAR 1991 1992 1993 _________________________________________________________________ RESIDENTIAL HDB HOMES 1656 1771 1919 PRIVATE HOMES 520 344 500 PRE-WAR SHOP HOUSES 33 37 53 COMMERCIAL PREMISES, OFFICES, HOTELS, ENTERTAINMENT 264 180 172 COMPLEXES, ETC. FACTORIES, WAREHOUSES, 164 84 122 SHIPYARDS, ETC. OTHER STRUCTURES EG ELECTRICAL 688 435 398 SUB-STATIONS. NON-STRUCTURAL PROPERTIES EG VEGETATION/RUBBISH AND 2415 2251 2560 VEHICLES. _________________________________________________________________ TOTAL 5740 5102 5724 _________________________________________________________________ ANNEX C CAUSES OF FIRE _________________________________________________________________ CAUSES/YEAR 1991 1992 1993 _________________________________________________________________ DISCARDED CIGARETTE BUTTS AND 2924 2476 2815 OTHER EMBERS ELECTRICAL CIRCUIT FAULTS 497 503 504 SPONTANEOUS FIRES 503 300 419 EG LALLANG/GRASS FIRES. UNATTENDED COOKING 581 576 574 NAKED FLAMES 260 211 207 EG CANDLES SPARKS FROM WORK PROCESSES 149 120 116 EG WELDING AND GRINDING. OTHERS (EG. MACHINERY 836 916 1069 OVERHEATING, SUSPECTED ARSON.) _________________________________________________________________ TOTAL 5740 5102 5724 _________________________________________________________________ ANNEX D ESTIMATED VALUE OF PROPERTY DAMAGED IN FIRES _________________________________________________________________ YEAR 1991 1992 1993 _________________________________________________________________ VALUE $23.2M $9.2M $58.8M _________________________________________________________________ Note: There was no major fire in 1992. In 1993, however, there were 5 major fires where a total of $39m worth of properties were damaged. ANNEX E FATALITIES/INJURIES IN FIRES _________________________________________________________________ YEAR 1991 1992 1993 _________________________________________________________________ FATALITIES 8 25 8 INJURIES 91 224 124 _________________________________________________________________ BREAKDOWN OF FATALITY CASES _________________________________________________________________ CAUSES/YEAR 1991 1992 1993 _________________________________________________________________ HOUSE FIRES 4 5 -- INDUSTRIAL FIRES 3 17 5 SUICIDE BY FIRE 1 3 3 TOTAL 8 25 8 _________________________________________________________________ Note: The fatalities are due to burns and/or smoke inhalation. SCDF does not have detailed breakdown by the exact cause of death.