Roof Repairs Using a Gas Torch Cause Fire at Private House

Reform.news Editorial Team · 15 October 2026, 17:55

https://reform.news/en/roof-repairs-using-a-gas-torch-cause-fire-at-private-house/

The State Committee for Forensic Examinations of Belarus has established the cause of a fire in the attic of a private house in Minsk.

The incident occurred in August. Emergency services extinguished the fire, and no residents were injured. To determine the cause of the incident, officers from the Ministry of Emergency Situations commissioned a forensic fire investigation through the Minsk department of the State Committee for Forensic Examinations.

Investigators subsequently established that, on the eve of the fire, the homeowner’s son had repaired the roof at her request to stop leaks. Experts determined that the insulation had caught fire due to overheated burning particles of bitumen formed when the material was heated over an open flame from a gas torch.

As a result of the fire and the firefighting efforts, almost all of the roof’s slate covering and roofing felt were destroyed. The flames also damaged the roof trusses, wooden battens and insulation, melted the polymer cladding and partially damaged the wall finishes.