As many of you can imagine, we here in Montgomery County are still reeling from another multiple fatal fire (3rd this year) which took the lives of 3 generations of one family. We now have experienced 13 residential fire deaths this year which is the most we have had in over 30 YEARS!! The last time we had this number of people die in residential fires there was no smoke alarm law on the books!! So, this is the largest loss of life for us since the requirement of at least one smoke alarm in the home back in the 70’s!
With the above said, one could reasonably assume that many of the fatalities were a result of the occupants not having working smoke alarms in their homes. Wrong!
The perplexing aspect of all of this is the appearance that each of these events has had at least one smoke alarm functioning at some point in the fire. The lone exception is the double fatal fire we had in May where the home had NO smoke alarms at all.
In yesterday mornings tragic fire, the lone survivor (13 y/o male) was alerted to the fire by the sound of a smoke alarm and was able to escape. There is even some preliminary evidence that the deceased occupants may have been aware of the fire and were attempting to get away from it (mobility may have been an issue for one or two).
So the questions that must be asked: are the alarms activating in a timely fashion, do the occupants understand the steps that need to be taken at that point to save themselves, and are they physically able to take those steps? I would suggest that, antidotally anyway, those questions are up for debate.
We have found the causes, and demographics, are all varied and diverse. A couple of common threads do appear in several of the fires. In at least 3 of the fires (involving 6 of the deaths) there may have been some level of impairment involved due to alcohol and/or medication intake (not in Monday’s fire and it does not mean each of the 6 was impaired). Still others (involving roughly 4 of the deaths), mobility issues appeared to play a large role.
What does that mean for us as a group of public life safety educators? I would suggest that, at the minimum, we need to continue to push the vital importance of planning AND PRACTICING your home escape plan to include incorporating any mobility issues of family members. I believe we also need to stress the need for interconnected, dual (photoelectric and ionization) smoke alarms on every level and in every bedroom! It also goes without saying: residential fire sprinklers save lives!
Thoughts?
With the above said, one could reasonably assume that many of the fatalities were a result of the occupants not having working smoke alarms in their homes. Wrong!
The perplexing aspect of all of this is the appearance that each of these events has had at least one smoke alarm functioning at some point in the fire. The lone exception is the double fatal fire we had in May where the home had NO smoke alarms at all.
In yesterday mornings tragic fire, the lone survivor (13 y/o male) was alerted to the fire by the sound of a smoke alarm and was able to escape. There is even some preliminary evidence that the deceased occupants may have been aware of the fire and were attempting to get away from it (mobility may have been an issue for one or two).
So the questions that must be asked: are the alarms activating in a timely fashion, do the occupants understand the steps that need to be taken at that point to save themselves, and are they physically able to take those steps? I would suggest that, antidotally anyway, those questions are up for debate.
We have found the causes, and demographics, are all varied and diverse. A couple of common threads do appear in several of the fires. In at least 3 of the fires (involving 6 of the deaths) there may have been some level of impairment involved due to alcohol and/or medication intake (not in Monday’s fire and it does not mean each of the 6 was impaired). Still others (involving roughly 4 of the deaths), mobility issues appeared to play a large role.
What does that mean for us as a group of public life safety educators? I would suggest that, at the minimum, we need to continue to push the vital importance of planning AND PRACTICING your home escape plan to include incorporating any mobility issues of family members. I believe we also need to stress the need for interconnected, dual (photoelectric and ionization) smoke alarms on every level and in every bedroom! It also goes without saying: residential fire sprinklers save lives!
Thoughts?
3 comments:
I don't know all the details, nor do I work there. But ... could it be too much emphasis on EMS?
No, I do not think that is the issue here. It has many different layers to it one of which is probably plain old fashioned bad luck. Some of it revolves around lack of resources and a lack of a culture of fire safety prevention within the community (and the department).
I just read on The Watchdesk that the county's fire rates are up this year. Could be averages, but I still like my idea.
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