DUBAI // Racing, reckless driving and badly modified cars were major factors in the number of vehicles bursting into flames almost doubling last year, Dubai Civil Defence says.
Emergency workers reported 153 vehicle fires last year, compared with just 80 in 2011.
Lorries carrying flammable material without regard to safety regulations were also blamed.
"There are specifications in place for transporting flammable liquids and gases," said Civil Defence instructor Shehabe Al Badawy. "Unfortunately there is just no enforcement for regulations."
Mr Al Badawy was speaking at the launch of the fifth Safe and Healthy Summer campaign by Dubai Municipality, which this year focuses on fire prevention.
He said Civil Defence was taking extra care with fire risks this year because Ramadan is in summer.
"Everything we talked about today - about fire safety in kitchens and shops and homes - the risks will increase exponentially during Ramadan due to the high activity and load on the appliances," Mr Al Badawy said.
In the event of a car fire, he said the first step was to turn off the car engine.
"Pop open the bonnet, but just a few inches. Don't open the whole thing," he said. "Get your fire extinguisher, place the nozzle in the opening and spray until the canister is empty."
Last year's 153 vehicle fires were part of 395 fires in total, of which 57 were in houses and villas, 46 in flats, two in office towers, 17 in buildings under construction, and 86 in businesses such as shops and restaurants.
Raed Al Marzouqi, head of the occupational health and safety section at the civic body, spoke about the importance of not overloading circuits and said he had driven through an old part of Dubai when a neighbourhood transformer exploded.
"It blew the roof off the housing - it was a huge explosion," Mr Al Marzouqi said. "Later I found out that there were many villas in that area, overcrowded with bachelors and multiple air-conditioning units running non-stop. This caused the overload on the transformer."
Poor housekeeping was one of the biggest causes of fires at construction sites, Mr Al Marzouqi said. "Combustible materials can accumulate at a work site and if it is not disposed of regularly and correctly it can be a major fire risk," he said.
"One fire was very surprising: there were no flammable chemicals being used or anything. They were just trying to cut an old sewage tank.
"But there was an accumulation of methane and ammonia gas in the tank from the decomposition, and they hadn't realised that."
As part of the campaign, which runs until the end of summer, the municipality has released a detailed handbook with ways to prevent fires at home and in schools, shops, construction sites and other locations.
It will be distributed online to companies so they can hand it out to their workers.
The handbook also includes advice for factories and warehouses, including details of unsafe mechanical, chemical and electrical practices.
malkhan@thenational.ae
