Thursday 29/07/2010

Forensic experts from Dubai Police were called in to handle 349 fire incidents   which were suspicious during the first half of this year. These included 129 fires involving vehicles.

According to Mohammed AbuAtiya, an expert with the forensic department, said that the number of fires that were recorded last year reached 660, which included 256 vehicles fires. Out of these, 374 were in residential and commercial buildings, where 20 were caused by gas explosions, 20 by short circuits and three due to gas leakage.

He went on to explain that the most common types of fires occur in building foundations, labourers’ residences and warehouses. These are then followed by vehicles fires.

He said that mostly accidental causes were behind the fires. This usually happened due to natural causes (the sun’s rays, humidity levels, water vapour), which sometimes interacted with human-related products - such as a cigarette butt.

Atiya mentioned that the motives for arson, on the other hand, vary.  The reasons include a bid to hide traces of a crime or an accident, an attempt at getting compensation from the insurance company or avoiding premiums to banks. Some shopkeepers burn their stores due to recession, as they hope to be compensated by the insurance company, he added.

He pointed out that there are different reasons for vehicle fires, which happen sometimes due to additions made to the car outside of proper agencies.  Some young men make changes to their cars and add devices such as loudspeakers and other equipment, which lead to increasing the electric pressure of the vehicle and cause fires. He also urged drivers not to leave lighters in the vehicle, especially if they would be absent for long periods, because the vehicle is vulnerable to sunlight and it could lead to an explosion. He pointed out that the majority of arson also happens in cars.

With the summer and travel season in progress, he further urged families to close their master source of electricity and to not leave any electrical equipment on, especially refrigerators.

He stressed that the most important difficulties that fire experts face is when people have tampered with the place of the fire, as it is the role of the experts to determine the cause of the fire and the damages.

Atiya noted that fires that break out in labour accommodations are often due to misuse of stoves or other gas devices. The danger of the fire in these caravans is that they are often made of wood, which allows the fire to spread rapidly, he said.