In just the first 23 days into the new year, 163 people have died in fires in their homes.
That's why U.S. Fire Administrator Dr. Lori Moore-Merrell and fire service officials are taking their fire safety message on the road.
On Tuesday, they were at a North Lawndale fire station in Chicago with Fire Commissioner Annette Nance-Holt.
“The winter-time brings increased fire risk, because we’re worried about heated security. People are using space heaters, power outages, maybe they’re using candles that can cause greater fires if they’re knocked over," Moore-Merrell told a WGN reporter.
“So these are things that we really want people to be aware of. Across the nation right now, we’re experiencing eight fire deaths a day in homes, where people should be their safest. So we really want people to pay attention to the risks.”
The Fire Stop Tour winds up Wednesday in Columbus, OH. But, the fire safety messages don't end there.
The Department of Homeland Security is hosting a virtual Winter Ready Extreme Cold Summit on Friday.
Among those joining the U.S. Fire Administrator on the tour included
- Tod A. Bettison, Deputy Mayor of Detroit.
- Commissioner Chuck Simms, City of Detroit Fire Department.
- Tom Sivak, FEMA Region V Administrator.
- Steve Kerber, Vice President, Fire Safety Research Institute.
- Chief Donna Black, Immediate Past-President, International Association of Fire Chiefs.
- Edward Kelly, General President, International Association of Fire Fighters.
- Chief Kevin Quinn, National Volunteer Fire Council.
- Victor Stagnaro, Chief Executive Officer, National Fallen Firefighters Foundation.
- Tom Lyons, Director of Communications, National Fire Protection Association.
- Chief Shane Ray, President, National Fire Sprinkler Association.
