JOHOR BARU: Multiple appliances connected to a single plug point, old and faulty wiring, sub-standard distribution boards and wires being tied up haphazardly are among the main causes of fires nationwide, according to the Fire and Rescue Department.
Its deputy director-general (operations) Datuk Edwin Galan Teruki (pic) said 60% of all structural fires involved houses while the rest involved commercial buildings, factories and others.
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“House owners need to be mindful and not overload their plug points with too many electrical appliances and also check their wiring every 10 years to ensure they are in good condition.
“Over time, there will be wear and tear and so it is important to get a distribution board that is approved by Sirim Bhd,” he said, referring to the national standards body.
Besides structural fires, he said another cause of fires in the country was incendiary or when a fire was deliberately set in an area.
The third major cause is natural events such as lightning, earthquake or even wind.
The department investigates about 31 fire cases daily, with most of them involving structures or buildings nationwide.
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“This is an increase, with 11,487 cases investigated last year comprising structures and vehicles. As of March this year, we have already investigated 2,931 cases,” he said.
The department will hand incendiary cases over to the police for further action, and if arson is suspected, it will be passed to the men in blue within 40 days.
The fire at a tahfiz or religious school in Kuala Lumpur in September 2017, which resulted in 23 deaths, had led to the prosecution of the arsonists.
Edwin, who was the chief investigator of about 200 cases since 2008, said one of the high-profile cases that he had personally handled was an incendiary case involving the death of Cradle Fund chief executive officer Nazrin Hassan in his bedroom in Petaling Jaya on June 14, 2018.
“We handed the case to the police after we suspected foul play in the fire,” he said, adding that his team was also carrying out an investigation into the fire at the Mid Valley Megamall in Kuala Lumpur on Wednesday.
Besides structures, the Fire Department also investigates about 3,000 vehicle fires annually.
“Investigations are done to determine the origin, cause and the circumstances of a fire.
“We do not just carry out investigations for insurance claim purposes but because it is a requirement under the Fire Services Act 1988,” he said, adding that the standard operating procedure was for an investigation to be completed within 14 days.
However, some complicated investigations could take longer as they involved onsite inspection, deployment of the dog unit, photography and sketching of the scene, collection and preservation of evidence, documentation, interviews with witness and analysis.
Probes are confined only to fires and not drowning cases or floods.
“We have 288 officers nationwide who are well equipped with a variety of tools and even their own laboratories in nine states nationwide.
“All analyses involving electrical and mechanical equipment are carried out by fire investigators with the assistance of chemists from the Chemistry Department,” he added.
