THE National Fire Authority is advising people to take extra precautions during this Diwali season.
NFA chief executive officer John O' Connor said people needed to take care because of the rise in structural fires that occurred this year.
Mr O'Connor said reports had shown the increase in structural fire was because of people being careless.
He said even though the number of structural fires for this year was less compared to last year, the causes of fire still raised a concern.
"This year it had been reported that most fires had been caused by children playing with matches, and unattended cooking," he said. "Last year most fires were caused by electrical fault problems. So it has shown that people are really careless when dealing with such issues, so we would like to urge the public to be vigilant during this Diwali season. About 50 per cent of fire incidents that had occurred for this year could have been prevented if people were more careful.
"We would like people to take extra care during Diwali so that fires could be prevented.
"Parents need to pay extra attention on their children as we draw closer to the festive season," he said.
Mr O'Connor said the number of structural fires for this year stood at 69 compared to 90 for the same period last year.