Setting off fireworks, a Chinese New Year holiday tradition to ward off evil spirits, has been blamed for the increasing number of fires across the country during the festive season.

The debris of a local luxury hotel, which was set ablaze by fireworks on Thursday in Shenyang, capital of Northeast China's Liaoning province. [Photo/ Xinhua]

Firefighters fought 5,945 fires nationwide during the 32-hour span from the beginning of Wednesday, the last day of the previous lunar year, to 8 am on Thursday, according to figures released by the fire control bureau of the Ministry of Public Security on Sunday.

That figure, for the 32-hour period, was about 80 percent of the 7,480 fires across the country during the entire seven-day Spring Festival holiday last year, according to previously released figures.

Fireworks were the main culprit for this year's rash of fires, but dry weather in North and East China also played a role, the bureau said.

Fireworks and firecrackers traditionally welcome the lunar new year to ward off evil spirits. At the peak, usually midnight of New Year's Eve, residents rush to their doorsteps or the roadside to ignite explosives, filling the air with sulfur and thick smoke.

But the festive celebrations come at a cost, with injuries and fires.

In Beijing, two people were killed and 223 injured between the start of Wednesday and 2 pm on Thursday. On Wednesday alone, the number of fireworks-related fires in the city was up by 178 percent year-on-year, said a statement from the Beijing Municipal Office on Fireworks and Firecrackers.