INDIANAPOLIS — "It's tragic how bad January's been this year," said Indiana State Fire Marshal Steve Jones.
Just five weeks into new year and already, 20 people have died from fires around the Hoosier State.
"It's really abnormal," Jones said. "It's tragic the amount of fire fatalities we've had already this year. Last year we had 71 total. We're already at 20 this year. It's a worrying and deadly trend.
"We’ll have multiple fatality fires but they don’t happen as reoccurring as they have this year. We’ve never seen this before I don’t believe in Indiana. And it is concerning because as much as we preach smoke alarms, it's like, 'Why are we still having the tragic events?' And rather than cutting down on our numbers, they have gone up," Jones added.
A number of those fatal fires happened here in Indianapolis in January.
A fatal apartment fire earlier in the month claimed the lives of a father and two children, a 3-year-old and a 15-month-old, while injuring two other children.
Early Tuesday morning, an Indianapolis woman and her dog died after being pulled from a fire at a home just off North Irvington Avenue.
Jones said a big part of this deadly problem is preventable.
"Most of them, it looks like they didn't have working smoke alarms in the home. We're very concerned about that," Jones said. "We’ve preached it, we’ve talked about it. But this month has been rough and we cannot emphasize it enough, make sure you have working smoke alarms in your home."
Lately, Jones said he's spending his weekends piecing together what happened at the scenes of these fatal fires and it's heartbreaking to witness.
"I can't tell you, it's difficult for the families. They'll never get over it," Jones said. "The community, just having your neighbor gone. The first responders, I'm very concerned about them, they don't have an easy job. It’s very impactful not just on the families but the communities and the first responders around the state of Indiana."
But to stop or at least slow down this deadly trend, Jones said the solution is simple:
- Check your smoke alarm every month.
- Practice fire drills with your family so everyone knows what to do and where to go.
- Sleep with your doors shut to prevent a fire or smoke from spreading.
- If you don't have a smoke alarm or need help putting it up, reach out for help.
"Smoke alarms? Easy. If you don’t have one, contact your local fire department. We’ll get one to you. If you can’t get up on a ladder to put one up, our fire service people are more than happy to put them up for people who can’t get up on a ladder. If you can’t afford one, your fire service or contact your state fire marshal’s office, we’ll make for sure we’ve taken care of that need,” Jones said.
"Smoke alarms is an easy thing for our people to do, bring a ladder inside of your house and help you put that smoke alarm up, knowing that's one house we won't have to worry about," he said.