Fire marshal: No children died in Massachusetts fires during 2020
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Updated: 10:29 AM EST Jan 11, 2021
Worcester fire engine
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Updated: 10:29 AM EST Jan 11, 2021
While Massachusetts suffered 39 deaths in fires during 2020, the State Fire Marshal reports that none of the fatalities were children for the first time on record. “To have no children, no one under the age of 18, die in a fire in Massachusetts is an amazing accomplishment," Fire Marshal Peter Ostroskey said in a statement. Ostroskey credited the Student Awareness of Fire Education Program with helping to teach fire safety to children. "This milestone speaks to the hard work of firefighter-educators to teach children what to do to save themselves in a fire. We find fewer children hiding under beds or in closets, because they know how to use their home escape plan," said Saugus Fire Chief Michael Newbury, president of the Fire Chiefs' Association of Massachusetts.Of the deaths that were recorded, all were over the age of 18 and nearly 40% were over the age of 65, Ostroskey's office reported. Half of those deaths occurred in homes where there were no working smoke alarms.