BEIJING, March 17 (Xinhua) -- China reported a total of 841,000 fires nationwide in 2025, a decline of 7.6 percent from the previous year, the National Fire and Rescue Administration said on Tuesday.

The number of fatalities and injuries fell 9.5 percent and 19.6 percent, respectively, while direct property losses rose 1.8 percent year on year to 8.53 billion yuan (about 1.24 billion U.S. dollars), Wang Wei, spokesperson for the administration, told a press conference.

During the same period, a total of 25.93 million firefighter deployments were recorded, along with 4.699 million fire engine dispatches. "More than half of the dispatches were for firefighting and rescue operations," Wang added.

Statistics from the past three years showed that residential fires accounted for nearly 30 percent of all fires annually and nearly 80 percent of fires in buildings, with electrical faults and careless use of fire among the leading causes.

The administration calls for the wider installation of early fire detection and alarm devices in homes, especially for elderly people living alone and "left-behind" children whose parents work far from home. ■