Over 27,000 fire incidents recorded last year

Bangladesh saw 27,059 fire incidents in 2025, averaging 75 fires per day, according to a report from the Fire Service and Civil Defence (FSCD).

FSCD headquarters issued a statement in this regard on Tuesday.

The fire incidents left 85 people dead and 267 injured, it said.

Electrical short circuits, burning cigarette or bidi stubs, stoves, and gas cylinder leaks were the main causes.

Out of the total, 9,392 (34.7%) were due to electrical short circuits, 4,269 (15.8%) from cigarette or bidi stubs, 2,909 (10.8%) from stoves, 920 (3.4%) from gas cylinder leaks, and 562 (2.1%) from gas supply line leaks.

Other causes included children playing with fire, hot ashes, fireworks, chemical accidents, and coils.

Residential buildings were the hardest hit by fires with 8,705 incidents (32.2% of the total).

Other major locations were straw stacks (3,922), shops (1,800), markets (1,067), shopping malls (617), garment factories (665), non-garment factories (615), and gas cylinder shops (483), said the report.

Fires also occurred in hospitals, offices, high-rise buildings, religious places, and educational institutions.

Fires were reported in 153 buses, 216 other vehicles, 10 trains, four launches, two ships, and one training aircraft.

The highest fire incidents were recorded in March (3,522), April (3,035), February (2,885), and December (2,724). November and May saw 2,237 and 2,209 incidents respectively.

Of the 85 deaths, 46 were men and 39 women.

 Most injuries and deaths occurred in residential buildings, chemical accidents, and aircraft fire incidents, said the FSCD report.

FSCD conducted 1,071 diving operations, rescuing 70 injured and 585 deceased.

Animals, birds, and other creatures were also rescued.

FSCD responded to 10,140 incidents nationwide, saving 10,333 injured and 1,756 deceased, including road accident victims.

FSCD inspected 10,533 buildings and of those, 3,316 were risky, 622 highly risky, and 6,595 satisfactory.

Mobile courts fined 179 institutions Tk1.94 crore and filed cases against eight.

FSCD held 15,865 awareness campaigns, 2,078 surveys, 14,987 public engagements, and 3,722 fire drills.