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SUNDAY, FEBRUARY 10, 1985
MORE DIE FROM FIRES IN 1984
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THERE WERE 52 DEATHS AS A RESULT OF FIRES IN 1984, AGAINST 42 IN 1983, ACCORDING TO FIRE SERVICES DEPARTMENT FIGURES RELEASED TODAY.
THERE WERE ALSO MORE INJURIES, AT 727 - INCLUDING 77 FIREMEN AGAINST THE 1983 FIGURE OF 692, INCLUDING 54 FIREMEN,
CARELESS HANDLING OR DISPOSAL OF CIGARETTES, MATCHES AND CANDLES CAUSED MOST OF THE FIRES, ACCOUNTING FOR 4 633 OF THE 14 693 CALLS TO WHICH THE FIRE SERVICES DEPARTMENT RESPONDED.
IN 1983, THE DEPARTMENT HAD RESPONDED TO 14 504 CALLS.
DEFECTIVE AND UNATTENDED COOKING STOVES, TOGETHER WITH HEATERS AND IRONS WERE THE SECOND MOST FREQUENT CAUSES, NUMBERING 2 100, WITH ELECTRICAL FAULTS RUNNING THIRD, WITH 1 713 OUTBREAKS,
SQUATTER FIRES, NUMBERING 264, WERE UP ON THE FIGURE OF 118 THE YEAR BEFORE. CASES OF SUSPECTED ARSON, AT 31, WERE FEWER THAN THE 40 OF THE PREVIOUS YEAR.
AND RESPONSES TO SPECIAL SERVICES CALLS, INCLUDING LANDSLIDES, HOUSE COLLAPSES, DROWNINGS, TRAFFIC ACCIDENTS, GAS LEAKAGES AMONG OTHER INCIDENTS, WERE LOWER, AT 9 000, THAN THE 1983 FIGURE OF 9 427.
ON THE OTHER HAND, THERE WERE MORE CASES OF PEOPLE BEING TRAPPED BY MACHINERY 142 COMPARED WITH ONLY 84 IN 1983.
THE DEPARTMENT'S AMBULANCE COMMAND RESPONDED TO A RECORD NUMBER OF CALLS IN THE PERIOD, TOTALLING 313 212, OF WHICH 220 768 WERE EMERGENCY, AGAINST THE PREVIOUS FIGURES OF 303 523 AMBULANCE CALLS, 220 242 OF THEM EMERGENCY.
PATIENTS CARRIED BY AMBULANCES, BOTH EMERGENCY AND NON-EMERGENCY, ALSO REACHED A RECORD FIGURE OF 417 429, COMPARED WITH THE 409 054 IN THE YEAR BEFORE.
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