Over 170 Spaniards Died Last Year Due to House Fires

Two men, one in A Coruña and another in the Madrid town of Villaverde, have died in separate fires in the buildings where they lived in the last 24 hours, and a third is hospitalized in critical condition due to the incident in the Galician town. These are the latest victims of the more than 30,000 building fires that occur each year in Spain, which in 2024 claimed the lives of 172 people while they were inside their homes or in stairwells or landings. According to the report prepared by the Mapfre Foundation and the Professional Association of Fire Technicians, deaths in homes account for three-quarters of all fire and explosion-related fatalities in the country, which last year reached 234.

The majority profile of fire victims in the home indicates that nearly half of the deaths caused by the almost 19,500 fires declared in homes were of people aged 65 or older, the age group most vulnerable to these accidents, and two-thirds were men.

The living room remains the most dangerous space, accounting for 35% of deaths, followed by the kitchen (27.3%) and the bedroom (25.5%), and up to a third of fatal incidents occur on the ground floor, followed by the first floor. Most home deaths occur at night, between 8:00 PM and 8:00 AM, with 85 victims; Thursday is the most tragic day, and the coldest months, December and February, are the most critical, with 31 and 22 deaths respectively. The risk of dying in a fire is almost five times higher among those living alone than among those who share a home.

The main cause of deaths in fires, as in previous years, is smoke or toxic gas inhalation, which accounts for seven out of ten deaths. This is followed by burns, the cause of a quarter of deaths, and to a lesser extent, trauma (3.4%) or heart conditions (1.7%).

The primary cause of these fatal fires is failures in the electrical system (short circuits, overloads, etc.), which is where 42% of all lethal accidents begin. This is followed by heat-producing devices or systems, with heaters, braziers, or fireplaces leading, accounting for one in five incidents, and thirdly, fires related to smoking habits, which cause one in seven deaths, generally due to carelessness with cigarettes on the sofa or bed.

By region, the area with the most fire-related deaths in homes in 2024 was Andalusia, with 47 fatalities, followed by the Valencian Community, with 33, and the Community of Madrid, with 12. However, if deaths are counted in relation to population, the highest proportion was in La Rioja, with 9.25 deaths per million inhabitants.

Experts who prepared the report propose some guidelines to try to reduce the risk of fires in Spanish homes. It is recommended to avoid electrical overloads, especially due to the excess of connected devices in homes, and to exercise caution with wood stoves, braziers, and materials that facilitate the spread of fire. They also indicate that it is important to review the use of furniture, lighting, and combustible elements on balconies and terraces, which can increase the fire load on facades.

Similarly, they emphasize the need for regular inspections of electrical installations and that technical inspections related to fire protection in buildings include analyses of passive protection. Experts also highlighted smoke detectors as one of the most effective elements for protecting homes, a simple yet essential device that can alert occupants in time and save lives.