It burned less often than last year. Most often in the Kladno region, the most risky is Mělnicko
The eloquent numbers can thus also serve as a warning at the beginning of the heating season and before the coming period of burning Advent wreaths – and later also Christmas trees or fires from New Year’s Eve rattles.
A thousand and a quarter fires in half a year
In Central Bohemia, firefighters destroyed devastating flames in 1,254 places during the period under review: roughly every seventh fire in the country. No other region exceeded the thousandth, when Prague came closest with 914 fires. Indeed, the capital burned less frequently than the surrounding area, as shown by the conversion of fires per thousand inhabitants: in the metropolis 1.4, in the Central Bohemian Region 1.8; the national average will reach 1.6. On the other hand, the largest and most populous Central Bohemia, which is also an important recreational area, does not stand out dramatically within the republic: the highest values are reached by the Ústí nad Labem (2.2), Vysočina and Plzeňský and Karlovarský regions (1.9 each).
Within the region, according to statistical recalculations, Mělnicko appears to be the “most risky”, where 2.4 fires per thousand inhabitants were found; followed by Benešovsko (2,3) and Příbramsko (2,0). On the contrary, the most favorable recalculations will be achieved by the districts of Kolín and Praha-východ (both 1.5) and then Kutnohorsko and Mladoboleslavsko (both 1.6).
Mělnicko is also one of the districts that recorded a year-on-year decrease in the number of fires – albeit slight, but the most significant within the region. Slightly more than last year was still burning in the Kolín and Nymburk regions. On the contrary, the Mladá Boleslav region with Prague-West showed a quarterly decrease in events compared to the previous ones; almost one-fifth Kutnohorsko and Benešovsko. All over the country, the year-on-year decline reached one tenth. Absolutely the most fires in the region were extinguished by firefighters in Kladno (152), Prague-East (141) and in Mělnicko, comparable to Prague-West (131 and 131, respectively). On the other hand, the districts of Rakovník (50), Kutná Hora (62), Kolín (79), Nymburk (84) and Beroun (90) fell below 100.
Nine people died and nearly a hundred were injured
The Central Bohemian Region has a significantly high number of other sad numbers in the national comparison. Both the number of people killed – nine, of which six were directly related to the fire (Prague still has five and four) – and the number of injured: 94 (55 in Prague). The sum of damages in Central Bohemia reached 301.7 million crowns (with an average of 241 thousand per fire), while in the capital it is 74.7 million (and on average reaches 82 thousand).
From this point of view, the situation was extremely unfavorable in the Kutná Hora region: three people died, another 17 were injured and the average damage per fire (392 thousand crowns) was the third highest in the region: after the districts of Prague-West (483 thousand) and Mladá Boleslav. (482 thousand). Two deaths are also registered in the district of Prague-East and one each in the Benešov, Mladá Boleslav, Prague-West and Příbram regions. The district of Příbram also stands out with 17 injured. In other districts, paramedics had two to nine patients in connection with fires.
Central Bohemian fires in the first half of the year
District | Number of fires | Year-on-year index | Conversion per thousand inhabitants | The amount of damage (and the average per fire) in thousands of crowns |
Benešov | 114 | 82.0 | 2.3 | 33512 (294.0) |
Beroun | 90 | 98.9 | 1.9 | 11368 (126.3) |
Kladno | 152 | 94.4 | 1.8 | 18421 (121.2) |
Kolín | 79 | 101.3 | 1.5 | 8669 (109.7) |
Kutna Hora | 62 | 80.5 | 1.6 | 24300 (391.9) |
Mělník | 132 | 104.8 | 2.4 | 10,603 (80.3) |
Mlada Boleslav | 106 | 75.7 | 1.6 | 51,055 (481.7) |
Nymburk | 84 | 101.2 | 1.7 | 1142 (13.6) |
Prague East | 141 | 88.7 | 1.5 | 40391 (286.5) |
Prague West | 131 | 75.7 | 1.7 | 63228 (482.7) |
Příbram | 113 | 95.8 | 2.0 | 35,072 (310.4) |
Rakovník | 50 | 98.0 | 1.8 | 3957 (79.1) |
Central Bohemian Region | 1 254 | 89.8 | 1.8 | 301718 (240.6) |
Capital City of Prague | 914 | 96.6 | 1.4 | 74717 (81.7) |
Czech Republic | 8 456 | 86.0 | 1.6 | 1,232,540 (145.8) |
Source: Czech Statistical Office; data for the first and second quarters of 2021