Tennessee State Fire Marshal says 20 Fire Fatalities make January 2018 Tennessee’s Third-Deadliest Month Since 2010

Nashville, TN – The latest tally* of  January fire fatalities has the Tennessee State Fire Marshal’s Office (SFMO) urgently renewing its call that residents turn their focus to fire prevention during the high-risk winter months.

Current SFMO data indicates that 15 fatal fires caused 20 fatalities in Tennessee during January 2018, making it the third-deadliest month for fire deaths since 2010 (December 2016 had 24 deaths; January 2010 had 21 deaths). Historically, January leads all other months in residential fires, heating fires and fatal fires in Tennessee.

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Tennessee Fire Data Shows Increase in Child Fire Fatalities during June, July

Nashville, TN – The Tennessee State Fire Marshal’s Office is reminding parents and caregivers of the necessity of fire safety education following an analysis of Tennessee fire data that revealed an uptick of child fire fatalities during the summer months of June and July.

Data from the Tennessee Fire Incident Reporting System shows that since 2010 there is an observed increase in fire fatalities and multiple fatality incidents involving children under 17 in the months of June and July.

Twenty-five percent of all Tennessee house-fire victims under the age of 17 died in fires in June and July.

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Tennessee State Fire Marshal says Smoking-related fires are preventable

Nashville, TN – According to the Tennessee Fire Incident Reporting System (TFIRS), 14 percent of the state’s fire deaths last year resulted from fires caused by smoking, which made smoking the leading cause of the state’s fire fatalities in 2012.

“Putting out a cigarette or other smoking material the right way only takes seconds,” State Fire Marshal and Commerce & Insurance Commissioner Julie Mix McPeak says. “Those seconds can mean the difference between a fire-safe home and a home devastated by a tragic fire.”

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