With summer temperatures soaring and air conditioning units across the emirate of Fujairah running at maximum capacity, the emirate’s Civil Defence has issued an urgent warning to residents over electrical grid overloads. The safety alert comes as newly released data reveals that domestic fires now account for an overwhelming 70 per cent of all blazes in the emirate.
Statistics published by the Fujairah Statistics Centre highlight a highly successful push by first responders, showing a major 60 per cent drop in fire-related injuries and zero fatalities over the past year.
However, emergency services warn that this progress could be quickly undone during the peak summer crunch if residents fail to service their AC systems and continue to overload household power boards. Commenting on the metrics, a senior official from the Fujairah Civil Defence stated that the decline in incidents and casualties is a direct outcome of intensive, preemptive safety operations.
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“Our proactive awareness campaigns and rigorous field inspection strategies have successfully driven down fire-related injuries by 60 per cent, while ensuring zero fatalities across the board,” the official told Khaleej Times. “However, as we head deeper into the summer months, the risk of domestic fires spikes significantly due to excessive electrical loads on cooling units. We are urging the public to remain vigilant, schedule immediate AC maintenance, and avoid substandard power expansions to help us safeguard these safety achievements.”
Traffic and safety experts point out that the summer months present the highest risk of the year for residential blocks. As the external heat climbs, older AC compressors draw significantly more power to cool apartments and villas, turning unserviced wiring into an immediate fire hazard.
According to the data, out of 145 total fire incidents dealt with by the Fujairah Civil Defence, residential fires swallowed up the lion’s share with 102 cases. Alarmingly, every single fire injury recorded over the entire year occurred exclusively inside residential properties, proving that homes remain the most vulnerable zone for residents.
To prevent a seasonal surge in electrical blazes, Civil Defence teams are shifting their primary focus directly to domestic quarters. Inspectors are conducting targeted sweeps of high-density residential blocks and older neighborhoods to check for faulty wiring, illegal apartment partitions, and uncertified maintenance work.
Breakdown of fire data
The official metrics expose a clear gap between strictly monitored commercial zones and vulnerable residential sectors:
Residential sectors: 102 incidents, a slight decrease from 113 the previous year but still the dominant safety threat.
Commercial buildings: 19 incidents, down from 22 cases.
Industrial sites: Remained completely flat with just 3 incidents logged.
Public service facilities: Rose from 5 to 9 cases.
Agricultural farms: Crept up from 1 to 5 cases, mostly due to dry summer brush catching fire.
Tourism and hospitality sites: Remained unchanged with 4 incidents recorded.
In contrast, government offices, healthcare facilities, and entertainment centers recorded the lowest incident rates in the emirate, limiting their logs to just a single minor incident each.
Civil Defence authorities are urging both landlords and tenants to take immediate preventive action. Homeowners are advised to schedule immediate AC compressor check-ups, avoid leaving cooling units running non-stop in empty rooms, and eliminate the use of low-quality extension cords, which act as prime triggers for devastating domestic blazes when overloaded.
Source: Khaleej Times