No child fire deaths in 2004

JOEL DAVIDSON/Frontiersman reporter

MAT-SU - In 2004, for the first time in recorded history, not a single Alaskan child under the age of 19 died due to fire.

Statistics on child fire deaths go back 43 years, to 1961. According to the Alaska Division of Fire Prevention, the number of child fire deaths has been steadily declining, especially in the last 10 years.

Between 1994 and 2003, an average of three children under the age of 10 died from fire every year compared with an average of six child deaths per year over the previous period, between 1984 and 1993.

ADFP Public Education Coordinator Jodie Hettrick said the lower death rates are due to increased fire awareness for both kids and their parents. Hettrick said there has been a big push to educate younger children and their caregivers, through Head Start and preschool education programs.

"That's been a big push the last two years," she said. "The kids get information and that gets carried home to parents."

Hettrick said 75 percent of child fire deaths involve kids playing with matches or lighters, with most of those kids being between 2 and 3 years old.

"Kids are curious at that age when they see parents or older siblings using matches or lighters," Hettrick said. "They see them laying around and they will take them into their bedroom because oftentimes they know they're not supposed to play with them."

When matches catch fire, they can catch clothes or furniture on fire as well.

"Older kids would know to get out but younger kids might not understand and they'll just hide," Hettrick said. "We're trying to teach kids that matches are tools, not toys."

To keep children safe from fire, the Division of Fire Prevention has encouraged parents and caregivers to keep flame sources away from children and to teach kids to treat fire with extreme caution.

"You wouldn't let your kid play with your chain saw because it is dangerous," Hettrick said. "But adults often don't take the same approach with matches or lighters - they're more nonchalant."

Overall, State Fire Marshal Gary Powell said he is encouraged by the improved statewide fire fatality record.

"It shows that parents and caregivers are taking personal responsibility for the safety of their children," he said in a press release last week. "I feel that our educational efforts are beginning to pay great dividends."

For more information on fire safety, people may log onto the Alaska Division of Fire Prevention Web site at www.dps.state.ak.us/fire/asp/publiceducation.asp.

Contact Joel Davidson at joel.davidson@frontiersman.com.