MAINE, USA — The Maine State Fire Marshal Richard McCarthy said the recent string of fires proves this year is "going off the rail" as there have been almost 10 deadly fires in the past week-and-a-half across the state.
Maine has seen 23 fatalities from fires so far this year, which is nearing a state high of 27, according to McCarthy. He said on average, the state sees anywhere between a low of 12 fire fatalities to a high of 27 deaths.
McCarthy said the increase in home fires is always expected this time of the year as people start to heat their homes, but this year's spike is alarming.
"We usually don't have, we have a little spike, but we've had eight [fatalities] in the past couple of weeks. That's just a very large number for a small state. We have a relatively small staff and we seem to be running from one end of the state to the other on repeated fatal fires, and it's concerning to us why," McCarthy said.
He said the fire marshal's office is doing a deep dive to see if there is a common denominator between the recent fires.
To prevent these incidents, the American Red Cross (ARC) and McCarthy are urging people to make sure they have working smoke detectors.
"Every home heating season we tend to see a steep rise in home fires, and that's because home heating equipment is one of the leading causes of home fire fatalities," Jennifer Costa, the regional communications director for the Red Cross of Northern New England, said. "To help everyone stay safe, we have a saying, 'Stay three feet from heat.' What that means is we want to make sure your furniture, your rugs, your drapes, curtains are at least three feet from any heating element."
Costa said the ARC has responded to more than 200 home fires in Maine this year, and generally, they see homes without enough smoke alarms or homes with expired or broken detectors.
McCarthy said to clean your wood stoves and furnaces and check to make sure your smoke detectors are working. He said smoke detectors are the "first line of defense" and to keep in mind they are only good for 10 years.
The ARC wants to remind folks to place smoke detectors on every floor in your home and in all sleeping areas. Costa said not to place alarms near the kitchen because people tend to disable smoke alarms in the area when they chirp due to false alarms.
If you are in need of smoke alarms for your home, you can request them free of charge from the ARC Northern New England here or call 1-800-464-6692 and select option 4.