Kampala — A new report has revealed that power shortages and lit candles remain the major causes of infernos in the city.

The report suggests that there is a link between the prevailing power shortage and the ravaging fire outbreaks.

It is a compilation of the emergencies handled by the Fire Brigade last year explaining the regular causes of infernos in the city.

Chief Fire Fighter Officer Joseph Mugisa said the current energy crisis is the underlying cause. Mr Mugisa said in the report that compared to 2005, 2006 has seen a 25 percent rise in emergencies.

"There is an increase in the number of fires that broke out last year - 542 cases compared to 468 cases in 2005,"he said.

Twenty people died in these fires and 28 were injured. Ninty seven people also died in other emergencies like collapsed buildings, pit latrines, floods, water bodies, road accident wreckages, wells, trenches, locked premises and jammed lifts.

The Public Relations Officer of the sole national power distributor, Umeme Robert Kisubi, said some of the fire cases could have been avoided through safe practices.

He said the customer service department has done enough in sensitising clients against unsafe power appliances.

"Umeme has dedicated a department that carefully monitors accidents and incidents of safety to the public and property. We advise customers to switch off their appliances during load shedding and wait for power to return before switching them back on," Mr Kisubi said. The fire were widespread in January, February and March because they were hot.