Analysis of Fire Incident Characteristics and Countermeasure Study in Municipal Districts: A Case Study of Xiaoshan District

As key units in China’s new urbanization process, municipal districts exhibit distinct fire risk characteristics due to dense populations, concentrated infrastructure, and intensive socio-economic activities. Taking Xiaoshan District as an illustrative case of a highly urbanized and industrialized municipal district, this study analyzes fire incidents from 2020 to 2023 from temporal, spatial, and causal perspectives. During the study period, 5011 fire incidents were recorded, resulting in 3 deaths, 2 injuries, and direct property loss of 73.41 million CNY. The results indicate that highly urbanized and industrialized districts such as Xiaoshan may simultaneously face frequent fire occurrence pressure, relatively low casualty levels, and strong sensitivity to large-loss incidents. Temporally, fire occurrence was strongly coupled with human activity patterns rather than being dominated solely by seasonal factors. The period from 4 p.m. to 8 p.m. accounted for 32.47% of daily fire incidents, whereas only 9.10% occurred between 2 a.m. and 6 a.m.; however, early morning fires were associated with more serious property loss. Spatially, resident population and industrial output value above designated size were identified as the primary socio-economic factors associated with the spatial differentiation of fire incidents and direct property loss at the town/subdistrict scale. In terms of causation, electrical issues were the leading cause of fire incidents, accounting for 31.95% of fires and 32.92% of direct property loss. In addition, direct property loss attributed to “other” causes was disproportionately high, highlighting the need to improve the professionalism, granularity, and consistency of fire cause investigation. These findings provide case-based empirical evidence for refined fire prevention, electrical fire control, early warning, and targeted fire safety management in highly urbanized and industrialized districts with similar development conditions.