Review and analysis of fire events in Egypt 1980-1991

Fire events are a potentially significant source of public risk, there is a need for an analytical approach to predict their frequencies and reduce their threats. Analysis and review of fire incidents may throw light upon the importance of assessing fire hazards and could help in a deep understanding of fire protection concepts and requirements. This study displays a review and analysis of fire incidents in Egypt during twelve years from Jan., 1980 to Dec., 1991. The statistical methods of analysis include: frequency distribution histograms, analysis of variance as well as regression and correlation analysis. The investigations can be divided into three main parts: analysis of the total fire incidents (TFI), important fire incidents (IFT) and significant fire incidents (SFI). The analyses include the distribution of fire events and their losses, the primary causes, the classification of events according to the place of occurrence, and also the study throws some light on arson fire events. The study provides general picture of fire experience over time. The number of TFI recorded in Egypt during the study period has an average value of 221 thousand fires annually, resulting on the average, in 226 deaths, 752 injuries and 11 million L.E. monetary losses. For a greater insight more elements must be provided by the Ministry of Interior to describe fire incidents. Based on the analyses done and the review of fire protection codes and practices, the study recommends the importance of establishing a comprehensive Egyptian national fire incident reporting system to be used in the future.