TULSA, Okla. — It’s already been a busy year for Tulsa firefighters battling fires with the extreme cold especially early this winter.
There have been three fire-related deaths, more so than usual around this time.
Adrian Ramirez is still reminded of the deadly house fire that burned next to his home by the charred burn marks on the side. Ramirez says he was asleep when his neighbor's house erupted in early 2022.
“I have a lot of flammable stuff," Ramirez said. "It could have caught on fire fast.”
A fire like that is something most people don’t prepare for, or want to prepare for, according to Martin Stewart with the Oklahoma Safety Council. Cigarettes and space heaters are the biggest culprits.
“Within 30 seconds you could have a monster house fire going on," Martin said.
He said to always check batteries in smoke detectors, plan escape routes and work on them routinely.
2 News Oklahoma pulled data from the Tulsa Fire Department about fire-related deaths since 1989. Although numbers aren’t currently at their peak, there were five more fire-related deaths in 2022 with 11, compared to 2020, with only six. As of Feb. 14, there have been three fire-related deaths in 2023. In 2006, there were three the entire year. The average is eight.
Martin attributes the increase to cold Tulsa winters and higher-than-normal utility prices. To combat price hikes, more people are using space heaters.
At the end of the day, staff at the Oklahoma Safety Council say preventing a home fire starts with them.
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