There were 89,500 cases of fire in 2012 and 2013 that killed 285 people, injured 3,870 and resulted in SR342 million in damages, the Civil Defense has revealed.

Col. Abdullah Al-Harithi, spokesman for the Civil Defense, said fires caused SR131 million in financial losses during 2012, increasing by 38 percent to SR211 million in 2013.

He said a Civil Defense report shows that Makkah had the most fires in 2013 with 15,087, followed by the Eastern Province with 7,316, Riyadh with 7,130, Madinah with 2,993, and Al-Qasim with 2,585.

Jazan had 2,261 fires, Tabuk 1,822, Al-Jouf 1,600, Hail 1,177, Najran 1,045, Al-Baha 831 and the Northern Border Province 707.

In terms of financial loss, Riyadh suffered the most at SR51.6 million, followed by the Eastern Province at SR43.5 million, Al-Qasim at SR37 million and Makkah at over SR27.3 million, he said.

The report said that electrical problems caused 15,327 fires, children caused 11,550, petrol was involved in 968 and arsonists caused 1,271 fires.

Al-Harithi said the Council of Ministers has approved regulations that oblige private and government companies, and high-risk facilities, to take out insurance to cover any damages or losses caused by fires.

He said the regulations also include various safety rules, awareness campaigns and penalties for violators. The aim is to protect lives and property, he said.