Facts: Some residential fires in December 2022
December 7, Österåker municipality: An elderly man who lives alone is found dead after a full-blown house fire that started during the night.
December 9, Vindeln municipality: An elderly man dies in a house fire and a woman in her 80s is seriously injured.
December 10, Österbymo in Ydre municipality: A man is found dead in connection with an apartment fire.
18 December, Kisa in Kinda municipality: Eight people must be taken to hospital in connection with a fire in an apartment building. A woman in her 80s suffers serious injuries.
December 18, Lund municipality: A woman is taken to hospital with serious injuries after a fire in an apartment early in the morning.
Source: Police, Rescue Service
Every year fires occur in connection with the Christmas holiday. Last Christmas, for example, Sandviken in Gästrikland was rocked by a tragic fire, on the night before Christmas Day. An entire family, two adults and two children, died in the flames.
In 2021, a total of 65 people died in fires in buildings in Sweden. 11 of them died just in December, according to figures from the Norwegian Agency for Community Safety and Preparedness (MSB).
The more people lose their homes. In December last year alone, the emergency services responded to a total of 450 calls to residential fires that caused damage.
Share in percent, 2012–2021. The smell of smoke can cause concern
The trauma of being hit by a fire can consist of several different parts, according to Kerstin Bergh Johannesson, licensed psychologist and doctor of medicine at Uppsala University.
She takes an example from when she worked as an advisor to the local crisis support after the forest fire in Västmanland in 2014. Some people were then surrounded by the fire, but managed to escape in a boat out on a lake.
— To risk being caught in a dangerous situation, that exposure is very traumatizing. Instinctively you want to be able to escape, says Kerstin Bergh Johannesson.
A fire can also create clear scent and tactile memories.
— One can, for example, become very worried by the smell of smoke, where it continues to create an alarm reaction afterwards.
The sense of context is important
If you are forced to move after the fire, you risk losing a sense of context, something that is important to have when processing the traumatic event, explains Bergh Johannesson.
— Then it can be even more important that you experience continued support from friends and neighbors, even if you have been forced to move.
In the first weeks after a traumatic event, it is common to have nightmares and a higher stress readiness. But some suffer from more far-reaching problems and PTSD, post-traumatic stress disorder.
Vulnerability to developing PTSD varies between people. The nature of the trauma also comes into play here.
Kerstin Bergh Johannesson, licensed psychologist and doctor of medicine at Uppsala University. Losing everything you have accumulated
An arson, where someone has wanted it badly, can be a risk factor, according to Bergh Johannesson. Risk factors are also if you have been exposed to life threats or if you have been injured. In addition, loss is a difficult risk factor.
But even losing one’s home and one’s belongings can leave a deep mark.
— Nothing remains of photos, the children’s first drawings… You lose everything you have accumulated during your life. Here, it comes into play how much importance one places in one’s belongings, how much they have been one’s identity.
Number of deaths in building fires, per year.Anniversaries can be troublesome
Burn victims may be reminded of the trauma every day as a result of their injuries.
“The pain after the burn and its consequences can mean continued stress,” says Kerstin Bergh Johannesson.
The diagnosis of PTSD can be made no earlier than one month after a traumatic event. Signs can be that you have difficulty relaxing, are constantly worried and have difficulty sleeping. You can also get flashbacks, memory images that cannot be defended against. Some try to avoid anything that might remind them of the event.
— Next year, when the winter days come, you will be reminded. Anniversaries can be hard, especially the first year.
Something that you should keep in mind, however, is that many people are surprisingly robust, explains Kerstin Bergh Johannesson. In the long run, most people recover, even after very traumatic events.
“Eventually, you may come to the conclusion that you have succeeded in building a life again.” But the support of others is also important for people’s recovery. You can mourn what you have lost, and move on.
On the night of Christmas Day 2021, a family with two adults and two children died in a house fire in Sandviken.