TDS Desk:

The fire service recorded 27,059 fire incidents across Bangladesh last year, resulting in 85 deaths and 267 injuries. The agency said an average of 75 blazes occurred daily, with electrical faults, lit cigarettes, cooking stoves and gas leaks the most common causes.
A press release issued on Tuesday estimated property damage at BDT 5.69 billion, while the fire service said its interventions saved assets worth BDT 32.63 billion. Three firefighters died and 17 were injured while combating the blazes.
Of the total incidents, electrical faults led with 9,392 fires, or 34.71 percent. Lit cigarettes caused 4,269 fires, or 15.78 percent. Other main causes included cooking stoves (2,909; 10.75 percent), gas cylinder leaks (920; 3.40 percent), gas supply line leaks (562; 2.08 percent), gas cylinder explosions (121; 0.45 percent), chemical accidents (38; 0.14 percent), children playing with fire (608; 2.25 percent), hot ashes (356; 1.32 percent), mosquito coils (493; 1.82 percent), and fireworks or lanterns (109; 0.40 percent).
Residential buildings suffered the most fires with 8,705 incidents, or 32.17 percent of the national total.
Other significant locations included straw stacks (3,922), shops (1,800), marketplaces (1,067), shopping malls (617), garment factories (665), non-garment industrial plants (615), gas cylinder shops (483), and educational institutions (123).
Fires were also reported at power substations (122), jute warehouses or mills (122), buildings over six storeys (71), restaurants and hotels (155), government offices (152), public hospitals (34), private hospitals (25), diagnostic centres (72), chemical warehouses or shops (36), slums (91), mosques (25), temples (9), and incidents involving air conditioners (62).
Transport fires included 153 bus fires, 216 other vehicles, 10 on trains, four on launches, two on ships, and one involving a training aircraft that crashed and caught fire.
The fire service also took part in 7,815 road accident rescues last year including 1,239 bus crashes, 1,089 truck collisions and 1,732 motorcycle accidents.