Figures released recently by the state agency in charge of security and preparedness, DSB, show that 27 people had died in fires in Norway this year by the end of October. That’s the lowest level ever recorded.
DSB (Direktoratet for samfunnssikkerhet og beredskap) reported that the figure compares to 41 deaths from fires recorded during the first 10 months of last year, and 47 in 2013.
“Of couse we think that just one death is one too many,” Cecilie Daae of DSB told news bureau NTB. “But there is reason to be relieved that the numbers have declined so much.”
The single biggest cause of fires in private homes is failure to turn off burners on a stove, Daae said. Many of the victims are elderly people living alone. New efforts at public awareness of the hazard, along with new technology that can turn off burners automatically or sound alarms, can save lives, Daae said, also those of family members.
newsinenglish.no staff
