46 Iowans died in fires in 2011, report says

Fires claimed 46 lives in Iowa during 2011, a death toll that increased by 13 victims over the previous year, State Fire Marshal Ray Reynolds reported Friday.

The two most common causes of the fires that occurred last year were improperly discarded smoking materials or careless smoking, and unattended cooking or stove fires, officials said.

“As Iowans are trying to pinch pennies, people are staying home to eat instead of dining out. Inexperienced cooks are trying to make fast foods at home and it's resulted in a large spike in kitchen fires,” said Kyle Gorsh, a special agent supervisor Kyle in the state fire marshal division of the Iowa Department of Public Safety.

Reynolds said the good news for 2011 was the fact that that working smoke alarms were credited with saving 186 people from death or injury in Iowa fires last year. Most of the fires from which the citizens escaped, occurred in the evening when the occupants were sleeping, he noted, and the simple sound of a fire alarm saved their lives.

“We occasionally hear news stories in which a person wakes up on their own and alerts other family members to a fire. These instances are pure luck. While we're always happy to hear of lives saved from fire, we hope your fire prevention plan doesn't rely on luck alone,” the fire marshal said in a statement.

The State Fire Marshal Division offered these fire safety tips to prevent home fires and to prepare Iowans on ways to respond if a fire does occur:

Never leave cooking materials unattended and make certain a burner is shut burner when walking away from the stove;

For smokers, consider smoking outside and place cigarette butts in a sand-filled metal can;

Practice family exit drills to make sure everyone knows how to escape a fire and where to meet once outside the home;

Install smoke alarms on all levels of the house and in every bedroom and hallway;

If using battery smoke alarms, consider using lithium batteries for extended life.