Cooking and electrical fires were the cause of most house fires across Victoria, the CFA’s latest statistics into preventable fires show.
In 2017, there were 1588 preventable house fires, causing more than
$42 million in damage in CFA districts.
District 14, which includes Caroline Springs, was one of the worst hit with 264 preventable fires recorded last year at a cost of more than $7.7 million in damage.
The damage bill was the second highest in the state, following the district that takes in Dandenong and the Mornington Peninsula, and higher than in regional centres such as Ballarat and Bendigo.
Overall, preventable residential fires were up 11.9 per cent in the district, which also takes in Werribee, Wyndham Vale, Whittlesea and Kinglake.
Most preventable fires started in the kitchen, followed by bedrooms, garages, roof/ceiling and laundry.
