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An increase in the number of deaths and injuries of people is recorded with the onset of the winter period, including the destruction of dwellings and households by fire due to non-compliance with the safety reules for gas equipment operating and its timely maintenance, violation of safety requirements for the operation of stove heating and heating electrical appliances.

All these tragic cases are carefully investigated by the Investigating Authorities of the Russian Investigative Committee. Thus, in Nizhnevartovsk KhMAO-Yugra, a criminal investigation continues into a partial collapse of a residential building on December 4, as a result of which residents were killed and injured. The main line of what happened is considered as an emergency depressurization of a household gas cylinder located in the apartment of one of the residents. In addition, on December 5 this year, there was a cotton explosion in the Zavolzhye city, Nizhny Novgorod Oblast, as a result of which apartment partitions collapsed. On the same day, there was a burst of domestic gas in one of the residential buildings in Yaroslavl, people were injured. In Sakhalin Oblast, a criminal investigation into the collapse in a residential building in the Tymovsky village continues The incident took place at the end of November 2022. In the Republic of Ingushetia, a criminal case is being investigated on the injury of four people as a result of a gas explosion in a shopping center in the Nazran city on December 7, 2022. During the inspection of the scene, a nearby underground gas pipeline was examined, where a gas leak was found from a crack in the pipe weld. The investigation detects in detail all the circumstances, causes and conditions of these incidents.

The use of non-certified gas heaters in residential areas is matter of particular concern, as it leads to carbon monoxide poisoning or fires, often fatal. The main reasons for the accumulation of carbon monoxide include the use of geysers with inadequate ventilation, closed windows and lack of air flow, and this also happens due to improper installation and operation of forced ventilation. So, on November 13, 2022, a family of four, including two young children, was poisoned by carbon monoxide as a result of improper provision of services for checking the chimneys and ventilation ducts of the house by Employees of the Service Management Company. They lived in one of the apartments of a house in Sovietsky raion, the Samara city.

With the beginning of the cold season, cases of carbon monoxide poisoning and fires, including fatal ones, were recorded in the Republics of Dagestan, Bashkortostan, Chuvashia, Perm and Krasnoyarsk Krais, Voronezh, Nizhny Novgorod, Astrakhan, Orenburg, Kaluga, Omsk, Ivanovo, Lipetsk, Tver Oblasts and other regions.

The Investigative Committee of Russia notes the importance of conducting explanatory work with citizens, including the need for timely repair or replacement of furnace, gas equipment, and electrical networks. Also, special attention should be paid to the prevention of careless handling of fire. Social services must constantly monitor the situation in dysfunctional families, where the possibility of such incidents is high, and to report to law enforcement agencies at the first alarm signals.

We remind you that it is prohibited:

• operate electric wires and cables with visible insulation failures and traces of thermal impact;

• use sockets, switches, other electrical devices with damage;

• use electric heaters that do not have thermal protection devices;

• use non-standard (home-made) electrical appliances and extension cords for powering electrical appliances or home-made overload and short circuit protection devices;

• leave unattended electric heaters connected to the electrical network.

It is extremely dangerous to leave heating stoves unattended or to instruct children to look after them! During the heating season, it is required to regularly clean chimneys and stoves from accumulated soot. According to statistics, the vast majority of fires occur in the residential sector, in houses, especially in old ones.

The Russian Investigative Committee urges citizens to be vigilant and follow the safety rules in winter.