Deaths caused from house fires in Michigan are higher than they have been in the past years.
Data from the shows 68 deaths in 55 fires since the start of the year. This is a 16% increase in deaths this year to date.
A deadly house fire in Flint that left five dead and one injured, occurred in a home without working smoke alarms. This is a common thread that is seen by the State Fire Marshal of the 55 fires that have taken place in the state this year.
“We talk about having working smoke alarms, we talk about escape plans, but when I have these conversations with communities across the state of Michigan, the dots are not connecting on how dangerous these fires are,” says Kymberly Pashkowsky, the MI Prevention Community Risk Reduction Divisional Chief.
works to reduce fire fatalities across the state. They create collaborative relationships with fire departments to make sure everyone has access to a working smoke alarm in their home.
Fire departments say having a working smoke alarm is the first crucial step to saving your life and your family’s lives.
Pashkowsky says people often think it’s the fire that will kill them, but instead it is inhaling the toxic smoke.
To further prevent fire fatalities, Pashkowsky and local fire chief, Noah Knauf, recommend creating a .
Pashkowsky recommends planning two routes from the bedroom that you sleep in because you won’t have time to get to the front door.
“I have four kids, and my wife and I talk to them about once a month about what to do during different things like fires,” says Cherry Grove Fire Chief Noah Knauf. “Having our kids know a centralized meeting spot so we can take accountability of them is important.”
Chief Knauf recalls house fires where parents don’t know where their kids went. The parents go back in the house to search for their child, risking their own life, when their child was just at the neighbors house.
Pashkowsky and Knauf stress the importance of closing your bedroom doors at night.
“When you wake up and you have a house fire, constantly keeping a door closed between you and the fire will increase those minutes that you have in the house to figure out how to escape,” says Pashkowsky.
By practicing, communicating, and making sure you have working smoke alarms, you can save your life and others.
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