In recent years, large amounts of fire accidents happened in countryside due to the problems of electric circuits, which adversely affect rural people's daily lives. It becomes increasingly important to solve the problems of rural electrical fire. The southwest rural area of China, where fire situation is severe and fire accidents occur frequently, is chosen to be surveyed. The situation of rural electric circuits and the strength of fire rescue in southwest countryside of China are investigated, and the fire fatalness of wood houses and the potential perils of electrical fire in rural area are presented. Finally, some suggestions on electrical fire prevention in rural area are put forward. (C) 2016 Published by Elsevier Ltd.