DECEMBER FATAL FIRES PROMPTS WARNING FROM STATE FIRE MARSHAL

A series of fatal fires over the past week has caused concern among fire officials across Ohio, State Fire Marshal Robert R. Rielage said today.  Since December 21^st, there have been five fatal fires claiming a total of nine lives reported to Rielage’s office.

While investigations into these fires are not expected to reveal a common cause, Rielage fears that a common factor may be a lack of working smoke detectors.  Preliminary reports from four of the fires indicate there were no smoke detectors or that the detectors present were not working.

“By providing early warning of a fire, smoke detectors add additional seconds that can make the difference between life and death,” said Rielage.  Ohio’s fire officials credit the 2/3 decrease in fire deaths in the state over the last 10 years to an increased use of smoke detectors among citizens.  At the same time, officials say that the majority of residential fire deaths that continue to occur happen in homes and apartments where there are no working smoke detectors.  In the 13,836 residential fires reported to Rielage’s office for 1998, smoke detectors were not present nearly 26% of the time.  In an additional 15% of the fires, a smoke detector was present but did not operate.  One hundred eleven Ohioans died and another 871 were injured in residential fires in 1998.

“We in Ohio’s fire service cannot say it any more clearly than this: working smoke detectors save lives,” said Marshal Rielage.  “Detectors also double individuals’ chances of escaping a nighttime fire.  I encourage all Ohioans to make a New Year’s resolution to protect their families by installing and maintaining smoke detectors in their homes.”

Marshal Rielage also offered the following tips to increase Ohioans personal safety at home:

·         Install a smoke detector on each level of your home and outside each sleeping area.

·         Test detectors at least once a month to ensure that they are working properly.  Batteries in battery-operated detectors should be changed at least once yearly or whenever a detector “chirps” to signal low battery power.

·         Never “borrow” a smoke detector’s battery for another use.  A disabled detector cannot save a life!

·         Consider giving a detector as a gift or installing one in the house of an elderly neighbor or a family in need.

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