Asaba’a city is gripped by escalating fear and constant anxiety due to a series of mysterious fires that have persisted for several months without any clear underlying causes. This extraordinary phenomenon evokes memories of similar incidents that plagued villages and towns in neighbouring countries, most notably some areas of Upper Egypt, where residents faced the same ambiguity amid the absence of a definitive scientific explanation. Daily firefighting attempts and unanswered questions from the residents.
In a parallel context, Egyptian authorities have proactively taken multiple practical steps to uncover the reasons behind the recent string of mysterious fires that affected certain regions. Conversely, some popular interpretations have leaned towards attributing these events to hidden forces and supernatural elements such as “jinn,” prompting many citizens to seek out sheikhs and spiritual healers in search of a way out of this ordeal. Television programs have mirrored this approach, with some hosting religious figures, self-proclaimed healers, or even victims, each offering their narrative from their perspective.
In 2024, Egypt’s Gharbia Governorate witnessed a widespread campaign to cleanse cemeteries of witchcraft and sorcery in several villages, an initiative that garnered significant support among young people and spread rapidly across social media platforms. During the “Let’s Clean It Up” initiative, talismans, witchcraft artifacts, animal bones, and blood-stained clothing were discovered within the graves. Upper Egypt also saw similar campaigns aimed at removing traces of magic from cemeteries.
However, these beliefs related to magic do not constitute scientific and logical reasons for the outbreak of fires. For his part, Egyptian Member of Parliament Ahmed Qoura opined that corruption within local administrations is behind the majority of fires, explaining that “repeated negligence and the failure of some employees to perform their duties, in addition to the potential benefit some may derive from the fires, are all factors that necessitate taking stricter measures to prevent such incidents from occurring.” Qoura called on the government to form specialized technical committees at the level of all governorates in the country, tasked with the periodic inspection of all vital and public institutions and facilities in various cities, centers, and neighbourhoods, to ensure the availability of all necessary protection, safety, and industrial security measures to safeguard them from the risk of fire outbreaks.
Conversely, Egyptian authorities have dealt with each fire incident individually, seeking to explain each occurrence separately and investigating its details logically and practically. Ultimately, they resorted to presenting precise statistics on the number of fires, their causes, and areas of prevalence. The 2024 annual report on fire incidents in Egypt revealed that the total number of fires nationwide reached 46,925 incidents. According to the criminal classification, accidental fires topped the list of fire causes with 9,814 incidents (20.9%), followed by fires resulting from negligence with 4,886 incidents (10.4%) during 2024. Industrial ignition sources (such as cigarette butts, matchsticks, flammable materials, and fireworks) were the primary cause of fires with 14,817 incidents (31.6%), followed by electrical faults or frictional sparks with 8,428 incidents (18%) of the total fire causes. Regarding the locations of fire outbreaks, open land (garbage and waste) led the list with 18,467 incidents (39.4%), followed by residential buildings with 17,969 incidents (38.3%) of the total fire incidents. At the governorate level, Cairo Governorate recorded the highest number of fire incidents with 6,288 incidents (13.4%), followed by Gharbia Governorate with 3,990 incidents (8.5%), while North Sinai Governorate recorded the lowest number with 189 incidents (0.4%) of the total fires. May recorded the highest number of fires with 5,468 incidents (11.7%), followed by June with 4,883 incidents (10.4%), while February recorded the lowest number with 2,916 incidents (6.2%).
Looking at the situation in Libya and attempting to draw parallels with the Egyptian experience, we find that Asaba’a remains the epicenter of fires with unknown causes that began last February, before their intensity subsided in March, only to resurge in the past two days. Fires ignite suddenly and without any apparent reason, engulfing the contents of homes and causing damage to over 100 houses and leaving many families homeless.
The inability to find a scientific explanation for these incidents has led many citizens to attribute the matter to “jinn” and sorcerers, and rumours have spread about environmental or spiritual causes. However, the Secretary-General of the House of Fatwa, Sami Al-Saadi, affirmed that jinn are real and magic is real and has an effect by God’s permission, but he stressed that it is not permissible to attribute everything to magic, and called on those in authority in the country to investigate the real reasons behind this phenomenon, noting that the reasons may be tangible and material, and that neglecting them and attributing everything to jinn is a breach of trust.
For its part, the Al-Hussain Committee for Combating Magic and Sorcery has affirmed since the beginning of the fires that it does not definitively know their causes, and that its presence at fire sites is only aimed at assisting, clarifying that the fires may be caused by several reasons.
In an attempt to solve the mystery of these fires, several local committees were formed to investigate the matter, but they did not reach any significant conclusions. As a result, a specialized European team was enlisted and recently arrived in the region on a field mission to investigate the causes of the fires, using the latest global devices and technologies to conduct precise measurements and comprehensive field investigations, to unravel the enigma of these fires.
Meanwhile, the Compensation Committee for those Affected by the Fires in Asaba’a held a meeting during which it reviewed the final report of its work, which included a comprehensive inventory of the damaged homes and financial estimates for reparations, as a preliminary step to submitting it to the Minister of Local Government for approval, and then to the Prime Minister for direct authorization to disburse compensation.
Regarding the daily developments on the ground, the municipality of Al-Asaba’a announced an improvement in the general situation concerning the fires that ignite without cause, as no fire incidents were recorded last Saturday, according to the records of the reporting room of the National Safety Department in Al-Asaba’a. The municipality confirmed the monitoring of several minor cases in homes where fires had recurred, as well as other cases that citizens dealt with themselves without the intervention of fire trucks. No injuries or cases of suffocation were recorded according to sources from the Al-Asaba’a Ambulance and Emergency Office. The municipality of Al-Asaba’a pointed out that the National Safety Departments in Asaba’a and Zintan Airport are stationed at their locations, ready to carry out their daily tasks in fighting fires as soon as any report is received. The Asaba’a Ambulance and Emergency Office and the Red Crescent Office are also prepared to provide first aid and medical care. The municipality of Al-Asaba’a noted the Support and Reinforcement Brigade of the National Safety Authority after the completion of its tasks in Asaba’a, and it will be replaced by the deployment of 4 vehicles from the National Safety Departments of neighbouring municipalities. The municipality warned citizens against setting fire to garbage, fire debris, or any flammable materials except in designated areas within the landfill to maintain public safety. It also called on affected citizens to go to the competent authorities to complete the procedures for documenting the incident, to ensure the documentation of damages and the taking of appropriate measures.
In conclusion, given the complexity of the situation in Libya, the abundance of speculation, and the absence of effective solutions, the Egyptian experience may serve as a model that can be used to decipher the mysteries of these fires, identify their logical causes, and arrive at practical solutions.