House fires most likely in Melbourne’s southeast, new CFA and MFB figures reveal
NEW data has revealed the Melbourne suburbs where house fires are most common, with eight deaths and more than $74 million in property damage caused by residential blazes across the state last year.
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NEW data has revealed the Melbourne suburbs where house fires are most common, with eight deaths and more than $74 million in property damage caused by residential blazes across the state last year.
There were 3120 preventable residential fires in 2017, responsible for eight fatalities and more than $74 million in property damage, the latest figures from the MFB and CFA show.
Unattended cooking and faulty electrics are the top causes of house fires.
Melbourne’s southeast, including Dandenong, Springvale, Frankston, the peninsula and Cranbourne, copped the greatest losses, with 457 house fires reported, causing more than $12.7 million in damage.
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While the number of fires statewide was up from 3098 the year before, property damage losses were down on $88.6 million in 2016.
Fewer Victorian lives were also lost than the 14 in 2016.
In CFA District 8, also covering Narre Warren, Phillip Island and Wonthaggi, most fires started in the kitchen (42 per cent), followed by bedrooms (10 per cent), lounge rooms (six per cent), the roof and ceiling and the laundry.
Cooking caused 34 per cent of the fires, followed by electrical faults at 32 per cent, and 13 per cent from faulty heating.
In July, a bar heater left too close to a bed started a fire which destroyed most of a house in Ronald St, Dandenong.
And in August, 16 firefighters were called to a blaze, believed to have started in a clothes dryer, that ripped through a house in Mt Eliza.
In May last year an oil burner left unattended on a kitchen bench sparked a fire in Sunshine West.
The burner ignited curtains in the Kermeen St home while the owner was left the house to run an errand, with a neighbour tackling the fire with a garden hose before fire crews arrived.
And two Ascot Vale homes were damaged in January this year after cooking oil caused a kitchen fire at a property on Ascot Vale Rd.
In May last year an unattended scented candle started a fire that destroyed a house in Newton Dr, Cranbourne North.
CFA District 8 acting operations manager Andrew Turner said the figures demonstrated the importance of smoke alarms.
“Working smoke alarms save lives. Despite more than 450 preventable house fires and significant property loss in our district, there were no deaths,” he said.
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MFB assistant chief fire officer Martin Braid said preventable house fires were usually caused by a simple, avoidable mistake.
“Never leave your cooking unattended, keep heaters at least a metre from combustibles like clothes or bedding, and have your appliances regularly maintained,” Mr Braid said.
“And remember, nothing is more important than having a working smoke alarm in your house.”
CFA acting chief officer Garry Cook said teaching people how to be safe in the home was
“all part of our ultimate goal of protecting life and property.”
“This includes reaching out to our multicultural communities, making sure regardless of whether you speak English or not you are safe around fires.”