Wet weather ensures relatively calm New Year's Eve in Denmark
New Year's Eve in Denmark was quieter than previous years, according to Danish emergency services, with fewer fire brigade and ambulance call outs.
There were 284 calls to the fire service during New Year's Eve this year, compared to an average of 500 emergency calls during the last five years on New Year's Eve.
However that figure is still three times higher than a typical day, according to the Danish Emergency Services.
Bjarne Nigaard from the Danish Emergency Services emphasised that the fire service was greatly helped by the wet weather this year.
"Although we have been busy, we have not been quite as busy", he told newswire Ritzau. But he added that around a third of the call outs could have been avoided.
"These are typically waste containers and dustbins that are set on fire on purpose. And quite a few car owners who parked their vehicles in a car park, will find out tomorrow their cars have been burnt down", Nigaard said on Saturday evening.
In Copenhagen's Nordvest, a preventable fire spread to the roof of a neighbouring property, causing 24 apartments to be evacuated and 50 firefighters being deployed.
In total, 1,800 firefighters were on duty in Denmark this year on New Year's Eve.
There were also fewer medical call outs this year.
1,289 calls were made to 112 regarding illness or injury, compared to New Year's Eve last year, when there were 1,442 calls. 55 calls were due to fireworks.
Despite the decrease, that figure is still four times higher than an average day, according Southern Region Denmark's monitoring centre, which collected data from the country's five regions.
Medical emergency vehicles were dispatched 942 times through the night from 6pm until 6am, including five trips from medical helicopters.
"The busiest night we have. That's it, even with these new figures", Gitte Jørgensen, pre-hospital manager in Southern Region Denmark, told newswire Ritzau.
The lower number of medical call outs was also put down to the wet weather.
"In a large part of the country, the weather has not really been good for being outside, and that always means there is a little less to tend to," Jørgensen said.
The eye departments at the country's hospitals treated 25 people on New Year's Eve, according to eye surgeon Ulrik Correll Christensen at Rigshospitalet, who has collected figures from all over the country. This is compared to 16 people on New Year's Eve last year.
"It is very normal that we see between 20-25 people who are injured around New Year. There have been some injuries in the days leading up to New Year, and there will also be some in the next few days, so the total number will probably be higher", Correll Christensen told newswire Ritzau.
All the eye injuries have been boys and men under the age of 50. A third of them have been under the age of 18 and the youngest was 13 years old. 23 of the 25 injured did not wear safety goggles.
Correll Christensen did however say that the eye injuries were a little milder this year but that it was only around New Year's Eve that hospitals receive eye injuries from burns and explosions, as a result of fireworks.
READ MORE: Are New Year’s fireworks becoming less popular in Denmark?
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There were 284 calls to the fire service during New Year's Eve this year, compared to an average of 500 emergency calls during the last five years on New Year's Eve.
However that figure is still three times higher than a typical day, according to the Danish Emergency Services.
Bjarne Nigaard from the Danish Emergency Services emphasised that the fire service was greatly helped by the wet weather this year.
"Although we have been busy, we have not been quite as busy", he told newswire Ritzau. But he added that around a third of the call outs could have been avoided.
"These are typically waste containers and dustbins that are set on fire on purpose. And quite a few car owners who parked their vehicles in a car park, will find out tomorrow their cars have been burnt down", Nigaard said on Saturday evening.
In Copenhagen's Nordvest, a preventable fire spread to the roof of a neighbouring property, causing 24 apartments to be evacuated and 50 firefighters being deployed.
In total, 1,800 firefighters were on duty in Denmark this year on New Year's Eve.
There were also fewer medical call outs this year.
1,289 calls were made to 112 regarding illness or injury, compared to New Year's Eve last year, when there were 1,442 calls. 55 calls were due to fireworks.
Despite the decrease, that figure is still four times higher than an average day, according Southern Region Denmark's monitoring centre, which collected data from the country's five regions.
Medical emergency vehicles were dispatched 942 times through the night from 6pm until 6am, including five trips from medical helicopters.
"The busiest night we have. That's it, even with these new figures", Gitte Jørgensen, pre-hospital manager in Southern Region Denmark, told newswire Ritzau.
The lower number of medical call outs was also put down to the wet weather.
"In a large part of the country, the weather has not really been good for being outside, and that always means there is a little less to tend to," Jørgensen said.
The eye departments at the country's hospitals treated 25 people on New Year's Eve, according to eye surgeon Ulrik Correll Christensen at Rigshospitalet, who has collected figures from all over the country. This is compared to 16 people on New Year's Eve last year.
"It is very normal that we see between 20-25 people who are injured around New Year. There have been some injuries in the days leading up to New Year, and there will also be some in the next few days, so the total number will probably be higher", Correll Christensen told newswire Ritzau.
All the eye injuries have been boys and men under the age of 50. A third of them have been under the age of 18 and the youngest was 13 years old. 23 of the 25 injured did not wear safety goggles.
Correll Christensen did however say that the eye injuries were a little milder this year but that it was only around New Year's Eve that hospitals receive eye injuries from burns and explosions, as a result of fireworks.
READ MORE: Are New Year’s fireworks becoming less popular in Denmark?
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