Number of fire fatalities declining in Japan
Jiji -- Jan 11
The number of fire fatalities in Japan has been declining, data from the Fire and Disaster Management Agency show.

In 2016, a total of 1,452 people died in fires, including from suicide by fire, down for the second straight year and falling by 27.6 pct from the 2007 level.

As fatalities in the first half of 2017 increased 2.5 pct from a year before to 885, however, it remains to be seen if the total for the whole of 2017 dropped year on year.

The number of fires in 2016 totaled 36,831, down 32.6 pct from 2007, with that of building fires falling by over 10,000 to 20,991.

There were "multiple reasons" for the declines in the numbers of fires and fatalities, including the requirement of fire alarms in new housing and overheating prevention sensors in kitchen stoves using gas as fuel, said Keiko Suzuki, chief researcher at the National Research Institute of Fire and Disaster.

News source: Jiji