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The updated fire figures for Oslo have created astonishment in the fire service. Has increased home office use contributed to fewer kitchen fires?
This photo was taken after a fire in a kitchen in Oslo. Since March, there have been significantly fewer fires of this type in the capital. Photo: Audun Braastad / Oslo Fire and Rescue Service
Not surprisingly, firefighters gave their opinion in March, when many moved home from work.
Wouldn’t more cooking and a higher load on the electrical grid increase the risk of fire? Therefore, the Oslo fire service was prepared for more home fires.
But the exact opposite has happened. And there is one cause of fires in particular that has helped bring the numbers down. Fewer fires have started in kitchen stoves.
– In March we sat down and thought: What happens now? But when we know today what life has been like in these months, it is perhaps not so surprising that there have been fewer fires of this type, says Sigurd Folgerø Dalen.
He is an Acting Fire Inspector and Chief Information Officer at the Oslo Fire and Rescue Service.
Acting Fire Inspector and Chief Information Officer Sigurd Folgerø Dalen at the Oslo Fire and Rescue Service. Photo: Lars Magne Hovtun / Oslo Fire and Rescue Service
First of all, an Oslo trend
At the national level, the effects on statistics are not great. But in Oslo, where most people have probably moved home, it is possible to speak of a trend.
In the first ten months of 2019, there were 35 major building fires in Oslo that started in food or objects on the stove. During the same period this year, there were 16 fires of this type.
– It is a significant and positive decline. But the question is what is the reason for this, says Folgerø Dalen.
The proportion of stove fires in all fires indicates an even clearer trend. In 2019, they accounted for 11.8 percent of fires. This year, the turnout was down to 5.5 percent. What happened?
– I think these numbers tell us a bit about how important a balanced and less stressful life is to fire safety.
List two reasons for the decline
The fire service believes the decline may be due to the pattern of life the crown has created. It is probably in the capital where this pattern has changed the most for most people. In any case, this is where we see the biggest change in these types of fires. Two reasons stand out:
- The home office has reduced daily stress. The time restriction is no longer so tight.
- Fewer people come home drunk late at night and turn on the stove to cook their evening meal.
– The calm and time that the crown has created has led many people to live more fireproof, concludes Folgerø Dalen.
However, a high proportion of fires of unknown causes constitute an uncertainty. These figures may hide cases where the stove was the cause of the fire this year, but not last year.
– Therefore, the reason for the decline is based somewhat on speculation, but we can still attest to the assessments we have made in this regard, says Folgerø Dalen.
It has also had fewer incidents with dry cooking.
The development is also confirmed by pure dry cooking events that have not turned into a full fire. There have been 339 such cases so far this year, compared to 467 cases last year.
It’s about overheating, smoke from the pan and pots or other things that cause a lot of smoke development and set off the alarm.
– The distinction between dry cooking and building fire is where the flames from the stove spread to other parts of the kitchen and the building, explains Folgerø Dalen.
Also remember how important it is to have smoke detectors near the kitchen. Therefore, the appearance of smoke can be reported as soon as possible.
I hope he changed his attitude
But the Oslo fire service is still excited about the end of the year. Does the trend continue until the new year? December is usually one of the worst months for fires. The fire service is not sure what the month of Christmas will be like this year.
– It is not easy to say how the wear of the crown and the insulation will affect the number of fires. Here, there are variables that we, as a fire department, cannot control either.
Another uncertain factor is what will happen when society returns to normal. Will the number return to the 2019 level?
– There is a risk that it will be older again. At the same time, we can hope that this period has established some attitudes that people carry with them.
This fire in Østensjø in Oslo started in the kitchen stove. An old woman escaped by going out onto the balcony. Photo: Lars Magne Hovtun / Oslo Fire and Rescue Service
But it burns so much in other buildings
However, the decline in kitchen fires does not illustrate a general development in Oslo.
Figures show that there have been 89 fires in, among other places, public buildings and commercial buildings in the first ten months of the year. That is six more than in the same period last year.
The fire service notes that there are still many who have been working in schools, kindergartens, in industry, in the health sector and in other industries.
– There, the load may have been even higher than normal. This may be one of the reasons why we have not experienced a decline in that area, says Sigurd Folgerø Dalen.
