Tragic January: Latvia is on Fire, Fires Have 'Increased in Price' Fourfold Over the Year 0 9

In January, 39 claims for insurance compensation related to fires in residential properties have already been received, and the total amount of damage has exceeded 1 million euros.

The insurer notes that the statistics look extremely tragic — the number of claims received this month is twice the previous 'record'. Over the past ten years, the highest number of claims for fire damage in one month was 20.

Fires occurred significantly more often — in 60% of cases — in apartments. Compared to January of last year, the number of claims for insurance cases due to fires in apartments has increased 11 times.

Who is to Blame?

Expert Arnolds Linītis notes that the trends in January incidents are quite clear. In private homes, fires were most often caused by short circuits in electrical wiring and malfunctions in heating systems, including the use of damaged heating boilers, clogged chimneys, and careless handling of hot ashes. In turn, in apartments, every second incident was caused by a fire in neighboring premises.

"Of course, the increase in incidents was influenced by weather conditions — people heat their stoves more often and use heating boilers more intensively. Additionally, electric heaters are used more actively in cold weather, which often leads to overloads in electrical networks," explains the expert.

"Somewhat unexpectedly, this January has also seen a relatively high number of fires caused by domestic incidents. Although Christmas has already been celebrated and the New Year welcomed, our data shows that candles and sparklers are still being actively used — they have caused several fires. In one case, a private house caught fire because a firework rocket fell on its roof," the expert recounts.

One of the January fires occurred because someone intentionally set fire to the apartment door.