By Stephen Smoot
Ken Tyree, West Virginia State Fire Marshal, would like to ask a few minutes of your time.
The time invested now could pay off in saving a life.
The United States Fire Administration reports that West Virginia in 2023 experienced 5.5 deaths and 7.6 injuries per 1,000 fires. Deaths came in at over double the national average of 2.1 and well over the injury rate of 6.4.
When it comes to residential deaths and injuries, the numbers grow more ominous. In 2023, the Mountain State saw 15.8 deaths per residential structure fire, triple the national average. Injuries in residential fires, 19.7 per 1,000, matched the national rate.
With fire departments around West Virginia and across the nation seeing challenges on multiple fronts, every potential measure to bring those numbers down deserves consideration. Ken Tyree, West Virginia State Fire Marshal, found one opportunity online.
“I was on the net and a person I didn’t even know was pushing . . . community risk reduction,” he shared. That took him to a company called Virtual CRR, which now has provided the State Fire Marshal’s Office with a new tool to help to educate and prevent fires and related death and injury. It takes the form of a simple survey that Tyree hopes every West Virginian and at some point will answer.
As Moorefield Volunteer Fire Department Chief Doug Mongold explains, “it is important because we are trying to get information to help lower the fire death rate.” Tyree calls that death rate “unacceptable.”
The survey works along multiple tracks. It asks questions about smoke alarms, carbon monoxide alarms, fire extinguisher ownership and use. The survey also inquires about safety knowledge and also home health oxygen equipment. Information gathered gives fire officials a more clear picture of their community.
Getting that clear picture helps state and local officials because “it’s an opportunity to deliver something to everyone because there are differences in our rural and geographical circumstances” throughout the state.
Additionally the respondent, based on how he or she answers the questions, will receive information on how to make the home safer and also on house fire escape planning.
People will also learn through taking the survey. “A lot of people don’t realize they should be sleeping with their door closed at night,” offered Tyree. The survey asks that specific question as well. Tyree explained that a closed door offers “an extra layer of safety” that allows time for residents to detect the fire before inhaling too much smoke.
The Fire Marshal also hopes that individuals will be proactive in helping others learn about and even complete the survey, which can be taken on a smartphone or a computer via a link at the State Fire Marshal’s Office website. “Take it to an elderly parent or neighbor,” he urges, then asks that if they need assistance, to “help them take it.”
“As a senior fire official,” Tyree stated, “I’ve taken a huge step and a huge challenge” in working to promote the survey “county by county, community by community.” He hopes to get at least 25 percent in the first 12 to 15 months.
