The National Fire Authority and other relevant stakeholders are collaborating on the inspection of the quality of building materials sold by hardware stores.

NFA chief executive, John O’Connor says some of the items include cheap light bulbs and electrical items which have been found to exacerbate fires to properties.

“We have been working with the Ministry of Trade and Commerce by visiting some shops to verify and get the details of the foils being sold in the outlets. So this is an ongoing process that we are working on to try and ensure that only building materials that comply with fire safety are sold."

The recent spate of fire incidents around the country has revealed poor quality of ceiling foil sold in hardware stores.

“We found out that the use of sub standard or materials that do not comply with the building code were used. This has allowed the fire to spread more quickly. For example in a few of the fires we discovered that in some burnt houses the foil was a cheap which assisted in the spread of fire instead of prolonging it.”

The NFA is concerned about the large number of cases of house and property fires.