Abstract
Aim: To present statistical data about fires and fire deaths from the past ten years, and to use these as the basis for developing guidelines to regulate fire safety in Ukraine.
Introduction: During 2009–2018 in Ukraine there was a tendency for the number of fires to increase and for the number of fire deaths to decrease. At the same time, in comparison with the global data on fires, Ukraine is characterized by extremely low level of public protection against fires. This is especially true in rural areas. The largest number of fire deaths was recorded in the residential sector. This is due to the imperfection of public administration in the sphere of civil protection and fire safety. The existing system of civil protection in Ukraine does not fully fulfil the task of implementing state policy in the sphere of civil protection. Civilian protection forces, and in particular fire and rescue units, generally do not provide timely response to dangerous fire-related events. As a result, more than 85% of people die on site before the arrival of fire and rescue units. This situation is also because of the ineffective prevention of emergencies, which is limited to state supervision (control) measures, while mass preventive and educational activities in the area of fire safety are not really implemented. Therefore, there is a need to formulate guidelines for public regulations to improve fire safety in Ukraine in order to increase the level of public protection against fire.
Methodology: Review of statistical data was conducted using methods of mass statistical monitoring, statistical generalization and grouping, and statistical processing of generalized and non-generalised indices.
Conclusions: Statistical data on the occurrence of fires and fire deaths in Ukraine in 2009–2018 was presented and compared with global fire statistics. It was established that Ukraine has unsatisfactory mechanisms in the sphere of fire safety and there is a need to improve public administration in the sphere of civil protection and fire safety. We suggested some basic guidelines for public regulations related to fire safety to revise and improve the legislation in the area of civil protection and fire safety.
Keywords: fire statistics, fire deaths, public regulation
Type of article: review article