As part of Fire Prevention Week, the New London Fire Department is recommending that residents take precautions recommended by the United States Consumer Product Safety Commission following a report naming cooking equipment as the number one source of house fires in recent years.
The report released this week says that between 2008 and 2010 there were an estimated 366,700 unintentional residential fires, 2,310 deaths, and 12,550 injuries as well as $7 billion in property damage. Cooking or cooking equipment accounted for about 147,400 (40 percent) of the house fires and 3,450 (27.4 percent) of the injuries, the report concluded.
Heating and cooling equipment, including portable space heaters, was blamed for most of the fire-related deaths during this period. The report attributes 210 deaths, or nine percent of the total, to fires related to this equipment.
The Consumer Product Safety Commission, along with the U.S. Fire Administration, recommended that residents install and test smoke alarms. The organizations also urge people to develop and practice a family escape route for their homes.
