Arakan State fire totals outpacing last year’s incidents

By DMG 09 Jun 2022

DMG Newsroom
9 June 2022, Sittwe  

Financial losses due to fires across Arakan State’s 17 townships totalled K93,234,700 in the five months from January to May of this year, according to the Arakan State Fire Services Department. 

Arakan State saw 50 fire outbreaks over that period, in which one person died and five others were injured. More than 1,600 people were affected by the fires, according to the Fire Services Department, which said blazes broke out at homes, shops and factories. 

“Negligence is the major cause of fires in Arakan State. The fire outbreak at Kyauktaw camp for the internally displaced people was caused by negligence,” said U Than Htike, director of the state’s Fire Services Department. “The financial loss from fire outbreaks totaled more than K90 million.” 

U Than Htike was referring to a devastating fire that tore through a camp for internally displaced people (IDPs) in the compound of Kyauktaw’s Mahamuni Pagoda on May 9, damaging or destroying 262 homes and leaving hundreds of IDPs in need of relief aid. 

New houses are still being built, camp information officer Ko Than Aye told DMG. 

“Some 200 houses have been rebuilt. We are barely receiving donations now. More than 1,000 people were affected by the fire, and they are being accommodated at a religious hall,” said Ko Than Aye. 

Some of the fires in Arakan State over the first five months of this year were categorised as arson, while others were described as bushfires, electrical or kitchen fires, according to the department. 

The blaze at the Kyauktaw IDP camp was reportedly caused by kitchen embers that set fire to an IDP shelter and spread from there. 

The state Fire Services Department is conducting an education campaign to raise public awareness about fire risks. 

Arakan State saw 45 fire outbreaks from January to October of last year, with financial losses calculated at K75,571,00. Three people died and seven others were injured by the fires, which affected over 3,100 people, according to the state Fire Services Department.