Oregon Ends 2012 With No Child Fire Fatalities

"We take pride in knowing everyone involved in the Oregon fire service, volunteer and career folks alike, have done their part in this positive outcome." - State Fire Marshal Mark Wallace

Oregon saw many serious fires like this one photographed by Salem-News.com's Jerry Freeman, but few deaths compared to past years. (Chart depicts 2012 Oregon residential fire fatalities by age group)

(PORTLAND, OR) - Statistics released from the Oregon Office of State Fire Marshal (OSFM) indicate in 2012 there were no children (ages 0-19) who died in a fire. This is the first year the OSFM has recorded that no child died as a result of fire.

"This is certainly good news," says State Fire Marshal Mark Wallace. "We take pride in knowing everyone involved in the Oregon fire service, volunteer and career folks alike, have done their part in this positive outcome."

"However, a single death is still one too many," Wallace declared. "We will continue our efforts to improve fire safety education campaigns, as well as fire safety codes, designed to protect all Oregonians."

The most recent report from the OSFM shows 22 adults died in residential fires in 2012. This equates to 6.5 fire deaths per million in Oregon. In addition to those deaths, there were 236 civilian injuries and more than $107 million in property loss. Over the past five years, Oregon has averaged 6.8 fire deaths per million population.

Older adults (age 60 and above) accounted for 62% of the residential fire deaths in 2012.

To help reduce the incidence of older adult fire deaths and injuries, the OSFM has developed an Older Adult Fire and Fall Prevention program made available free to any Oregon fire department. If your organization would like more information on this program, please contact your local fire agency or the Office of State Fire Marshal at 503-934-8228.

News Release from: Oregon State Fire Marshal