More than 1,300 residential building fires reported in Oman

 Fires in residential buildings are on the rise over the past year years, according to the Public Authority for Civil Defence (PACDA).

A statement by PACDA read: “There were 1100 residential fires in 2016, 1234 in 2017, and this number has increased to 1335 fires in residential areas in 2018.

“These fires can be caused by faulty wiring, overloading electricity ports, and leaving electrical equipment on for a long time or not servicing them,” the statement added.

Advice from the authority included not touching electrical devices with wet hands and to turn them off directly after use, as well as periodically servicing them.