The number of people who died as a result of a fire in a property in Belgium in the past year has increased significantly compared to 2021, while this month was the most fatal December on record.
So far in 2022, 74 people have died in a house fire, 25 more people than in 2021, according to figures published by Oscare, the aftercare and research centre for burns and scars. In December alone, there were 14 victims of fatal property fires, making it the deadliest December since the 2014 censuses.
The organisation's spokesperson and prevention expert Peter Van Rossum pointed towards the energy crisis and the increased use of fireplaces and other risky alternative heating methods as the reason behind the rise in the figure, however, this will be further investigated by fire experts.
The deaths resulted from 51 fatal house fires, of which the majority (29) were in Wallonia, where at least 40 people died, followed by 25 in Flanders (where 25 people died) and three in Brussels, where at least nine people lost their lives in such a fire. The charity includes "at least" in their official figures as the year has not yet ended.
The youngest victim was six years old while the oldest was 97 years old. The average age of those killed by house fires is 62.82 years. There were six victims whose ages were so far undetermined.
Vital investments
The organisation noted that "many of these house fires and victims are preventable," reiterating the call to invest in and install smoke detectors with a ten-year fixed battery in homes. This has been mandatory in Flanders since 2020, Van Rossum suspects that many do not yet have smoke detectors.
For this reason, it is vital to invest in enough smoke detectors and equip all high-risk places with a smoke detector, except for locations where false alarms are possible, such as the kitchen, bathroom and places where the temperature drops to 4°C or rises to 38°C such as the basement, garage, veranda and an unfinished attic.
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"These places are obviously also at risk of fire, so a smoke detector should be placed near them," the organisation stressed. "If the fire is detected quickly, it remains contained and an escape route is available." In a typical family home, six to eight smoke detectors are needed to ensure rapid detection.
More than half of all victims (48) died at night or in the evening. "Few people know that if a fire breaks out at night, you have very little chance of waking up in time. After all, if you are asleep, you cannot smell anything. The smoke from a fire spreads very quickly and is suffocating," the organisation wrote in a statement, adding that placing a smoke detector in bedrooms is therefore also vital.
