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Fires a
Leading Culprit in Child Deaths
(By Scarlet Sims, The Morning News)
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"Fires get very hot very fast and you won't be able to go
into thick smoke without being overcome," she said.
Dead in the Bentonville fire were Kristan Frazier, 13;
Kimberly Frazier, 11; Katelyn Mahmens, 9; Kaila Frazier, 8;
and Kiya Frazier, 5, all from smoke and soot inhalation,
investigators have said. Investigators believe the early
morning fire started near a space heater in the girls'
bedroom and it's likely they never woke up.
Their parents, James and Karry Frazier, buried the girls
Monday.
"People don't feel like a fire can happen to them when, in
fact, a fire can happen anywhere," said Jimmy Parks,
outreach coordinator for the Burn Center at Arkansas
Children's Hospital.
Why Children?
Statewide, fire is in the second-leading cause of death for
children age 1 to 9 and the third-leading cause of death for
children age 10 to 14, according to federal statistics.
Residential fires killed 35 children younger than age 14
from 2003 to 2005, according to Arkansas Health Department
statistics. In March alone, seven children died in fires in
Arkansas.
A space heater also was blamed in a Decatur house fire on
Dec. 11, 2005, that killed Dalton Cole Younger, 7, and Jacob
Crowley Younger, 3. Their parents, Jennifer and D.J. Younger
were able to escape with an 11-month-old son, Morgan.
Witnesses said D.J. Younger tried desperately to fight the
fire with a water hose but flames prevented him from
reaching the boys.
Children die in fires for several reasons, experts said.
"A lot of times children hide in a fire instead of
escaping," said Chrissy Cianflone, Safe Kids Worldwide
program operations manager.
The response to hide is instinctive, especially in younger
children, she said. Children crawl under beds or hide in
closets where parents and firefighters can't find them. Some
children will panic and run away when they see firefighters. |
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"Kids need to know not to hide," Carli said. "They need to
know to get out."
There was a smoke alarm upstairs near the Frazier children,
but it didn't have batteries, investigators said. Children
don't always wake up when a fire alarm sounds.
News reports recently demonstrated children not reacting to
beeping fire alarms. The U.S. Consumer Product Safety
Commission is studying why children don't wake up and how
smoke detectors can be improved. Alarms that use a recorded
message may help children wake up better, Cianflone said.
Parents need to know how their children will react to an
alarm and should wait for children to sleep to practice a
family fire drill, she said. Residents have only about 3
minutes to get out of a burning house, Carli said.
Two-story homes can also be a problem, Tomlin said. Children
often sleep on the second floor and may be isolated from
parents, making it more difficult for parents to discover a
fire and to get children out, he said.
Children are physically more vulnerable to fires too. Their
skin is thinner than adults' and they burn easily, according
to a 2004 U.S. Fire Administration/National Fire Data Center
study. Because children have smaller lungs, they are also
more susceptible to fumes such as carbon monoxide, said
Sandy Bonzo, U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention
spokeswoman.
"Smoke is highly toxic," Hanna said. "Mostly it's carbon
monoxide, and it will put you to sleep."
Siblings Kayla Gomez Ratledge, 8, and Jacob Hawkins Ratledge,
5, died of smoke and soot inhalation in a Nov. 29, 2005,
fire in their home in Sulphur Springs. The boys' parents
escaped with their younger brother, Leo, 3, who
investigators said started the fire while playing with a
lighter.
Firefighters found the children huddled together, holding
hands near their bedroom window. Their mother, Shanna, cut
her arms trying to reach in the window to save them,
investigators said.
Children living in rural states, such as Arkansas, are twice
as likely to die in house fires as children living in large
cities, Carli said. Fire deaths increase for more
impoverished areas because of substandard housing, Bonzo
said.
Northwest Arkansas' fire death rate was lower than the
national average between 2003 and 2005, but Benton County
had five child fire deaths - the largest number in the state
along with Pulaski County. Carroll and Washington counties
reported no child fire fatalities, and Madison County had
one for the same time period.
The recent fire deaths in Benton County will increase the
county's rating in 2008, said Bettye Watts with the state
Health Department's Injury Prevention and Control Branch.
"These tragedies underscore the need for fire prevention
education," Carli said.
Prevention Key, Funds Short
Education saves lives, but Arkansas doesn't fund programs
that would give children the best chance of surviving a
fire, Parks said. The only way that will change is if voters
pressure representatives to make prevention a priority, he
said.
"Without that attention, it's really hard to get funding for
any type of fire prevention activity," Parks said.
Currently, the state Fire Marshal's Office doesn't have the
manpower or the budget to promote prevention education, said
state Fire Marshal Lt. Lindsey Williams. The office's budget
is about $100,000, according to the state Budget Office.
The state's Fire Prevention Commission, which awards
prevention education grants, gets $40,000 every other year.
One fire safety house used to teach school children is about
$40,000, Parks said. The commission requested another
$20,000 during the 2007 legislative session but that was not
funded.
Lindsey said $40,000 is not enough to cover all the requests
to the state prevention commission.
The state spends about $19 million to help fund fire
departments, but most of the money goes for fire engines and
equipment to fight fire, not prevention programs. Parks said
federal funding is designated 93 percent for fire
suppression and 7 percent for prevention programs and
education.
"Right from the top, it's backward," Parks said.
Local fire departments usually don't have enough money for
prevention programs, he said.
Washington County asks local businesses to help cover
prevention education costs, said Washington County Fire
Marshal John Jenkins. His office spends several thousand
dollars every year to promote prevention.
County fire marshals have a harder time getting state
funding because they cover multiple cities and aren't
eligible for most grants, Jenkins said. Washington County
received a one-time grant for $7,500 to clean chimneys and
flues but Jenkins didn't have the funds to keep the program
going.
Jenkins said even one-time grants from the state would help
upgrade fire protection and prevention.
In Benton County, Hanna doesn't have the resources to
adequately pursue prevention education, said Travis Hollis,
Rogers' fire marshal, who is also Arkansas Fire Marshal's
Association president.
Hanna said he is glad to get any funding from the state and
makes do as best he can. The state does its best, he said.
Limited resources mean less prevention education, Hollis
said. He worries about the lack of education geared toward
Spanish-speaking adults.
"With a limited budget, we have to make decisions on how to
reach the masses," he said. "In my personal opinion, the
state does not put enough into the fire prevention."
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By The Numbers
Children at Risk
Children younger than 5 have an increased risk
of dying in a house fire, officials say.
Statistics from 1999-2005 show unintentional
structure fires were the second leading cause of
death for children age 1-4 in Arkansas. Fires
were the third leading cause of death for
children age 10-14. From 2003 to 2005, Arkansas
lost 35 children younger than 14 to fire.
Sources: Center for Disease Control, 1999-2005;
Arkansas Division of Health, 2003-2005 |
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Fast Fact
Common Causes
Children playing with lighters or matches
account for 40 percent of fire fatalities for
children younger than age 5. About 300 people
die in fires every year from children playing
with fire.
Source: Safe Kids Worldwide |
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