The number of fires in Belarus has increased. Experts have explained the causes.

February 4, Minsk . Vasily Sivchak, First Deputy Head of the Main Directorate for Supervision and Prevention of the Ministry of Emergency Situations, shared the latest information on the fire situation in the country with journalists, a BELTA correspondent reports.

"Since the beginning of this year, due to cold weather in the republic, the situation with fires and fatalities has worsened. In January 2026, 967 fires occurred in the country, which is 90% more than in the same period last year. The number of fatalities in these fires is 87% higher than in the same period in 2025. Of these fires, 761 occurred in residential buildings. Forty-five of the fatalities were intoxicated," Sivchak said. He believes this is due to the more intensive use of stove heating, electrical networks, improper use of heat-generating equipment, and increased time spent at home.

"Almost 70% of fires resulting in deaths occur between October and March. This is the period when residents actively use heat-generating equipment. Fires caused by faulty stove heating occur almost daily. Overheating causes cracks in the brickwork, which can lead to fires during intensive heating," explained the first deputy head of the main department.

In most cases, the fires target single-family, semi-detached houses in rural areas and outbuildings located on the property. In January, 343 fires occurred in such structures (43.4% of the total) and 303 in outbuildings.

The department's resources are focused on individual preventative work with primarily socially vulnerable citizens. "Rescuers visited almost 70,000 such households. These include 9,000 large families, almost 2,000 families raising children with indicators of social danger, almost 42,000 single citizens and disabled people. 94,000 people were informed about fire safety measures," shared Vasily Sivchak.

From January 21 to 26, a special preventive event, "A Home Without Fire," was held in 18 regions of the republic—those where the number of fire deaths has increased over the past three years. Almost 19,000 households were inspected.

An information campaign is also being actively conducted to install home fire alarms. The device is placed in the living room and is designed to detect a fire early, for example, while sleeping. "Such a signal will wake anyone up. The effectiveness of an autonomous fire alarm is supported by the numbers. In January 2026 alone, thanks to the alarm, 20 people were saved, three of them children. In 2025Last year, 67 people were rescued, including 14 children. And since 2002, more than 2,800 people have been rescued. These are known cases, in which the Ministry of Emergency Situations was called in to address the problem . We understand that these numbers are much higher. And thanks to the information campaign before the New Year, about 42,000 alarms were installed," noted Vasily Sivchak.