Nationwide, 375 fires killed 6 people in January

According to the Fire Prevention and Rescue Police Department, Ministry of Public Security, in January, there were 375 fires nationwide, killing 6 people, injuring 5 people, causing estimated property damage of 11.7 billion VND and 20 hectares of forest.

Compared to January 2024, the number of fires increased by 107, the number of deaths decreased by 3, the number of injuries decreased by 3, and property damage increased by 7.3 billion VND.

Of the fires, 195 occurred in urban areas, accounting for 52%, and 180 occurred in rural areas, accounting for 48%.

According to statistics, among the fires, there were 125 house fires (accounting for 33.3%); 47 warehouse fires, production and business facilities (accounting for 12.5%); 32 vehicle fires (accounting for 8.5%); 25 fires of houses combined with production and business (accounting for 6.7%); 33 forest fires (accounting for 8.8%). The number of fires occurring in other types of facilities all accounted for less than 5%.

Of the 230/375 cases (accounting for 61.3%) whose causes were clarified, 170 cases (accounting for 73.9%) were caused by system and electrical equipment failures; 47 cases (accounting for 20.4%) were caused by careless use of fire and heat sources; other causes accounted for less than 5%.

Also according to the Fire Prevention and Fighting and Rescue Police Department - Ministry of Public Security, during the 9-day Lunar New Year holiday, the number of fire incidents decreased in all 3 criteria (number of incidents, human damage; property damage) compared to the Lunar New Year of Giap Thin 2024.

During the 9-day Tet holiday (from January 25 to February 2), there were 153 fires nationwide (71 house fires, 15 production facility fires, 7 vehicle fires, 8 residential and commercial fires, 51 other types of fires and 1 forest fire), injuring 3 people; property damage was estimated at 3.4 billion VND. The main causes of the fires were electrical short circuits and carelessness in the use of fire and heat sources.

Compared to the Lunar New Year of Giap Thin in 2024, the number of fires decreased by 20 cases, property damage was estimated to decrease by 3.2 billion VND, and there were no fires or explosions causing serious damage to people and property.

In February 2025, the entire force continued to propagate and guide people to implement the Law on Fire Prevention and Fighting and Rescue; promoted the construction of two models "Fire Prevention and Fighting Inter-family Safety Group" and "Public Fire Fighting Point" to effectively promote fire prevention and fighting safety in residential areas.

Local police (Hanoi, Ho Chi Minh City, Hai Phong and Nam Dinh) continue to effectively maintain and deploy the Community Experience Center on fire prevention, fighting and rescue work and replicate it in other localities.

The authorities continue to handle facilities that do not meet fire prevention and fighting requirements and are put into use before the effective date of the Law on Fire Prevention and Fighting (from July 1, 2025), and publicly post information on all works that have not been accepted for fire prevention and fighting and have been put into use.

The Fire Prevention and Fighting and Rescue Police Force focuses on effectively implementing state management of fire prevention and fighting and rescue; organizing investigation and handling of violations of fire prevention and fighting regulations.

The authorities will commend and reward collectives and individuals with outstanding achievements in implementing state management of fire prevention and fighting and rescue, and organizing fire fighting and rescue.

The authorities organized a review, clarified responsibilities and strictly handled collectives and individuals in the state management of fire prevention and fighting and rescue for facilities that let fires occur and in the organization of fire fighting and rescue.