Many Moldovans remained disabled for long periods of time and even for life, after making the mistake of falling asleep with cigarettes burning or by lighting fires in ovens with highly inflammable substances.

The physicians fight for their lives for months, as the treatment costs vary from 80,000 to 250,000 lei.

"They need daily transfusions of plasma and blood, expensive drugs, antibiotics, amino-acids," explains the doctor Mihail Puia.

Up to 20 people with severe burns get to the Thermal Lesions Hospital from Chisinau every winter.

"People fall asleep and the cigarette is a prerequisite of fire. There is negligence in lighting up fires in ovens. Many overheat them and cause fires," said a spokeswoman with the Emergency Service.

12 people have died in fires in Moldova in the first ten days if this year.