Arson Fires 125 Structure Arson 128 Motor Vehicle Arson 131 Outside and Other Arson 132
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/ i >ÃÃ>V ÕÃiÌÌà Ài *ÀLi Õ> ,i«ÀÌ v Ì i >ÃÃ>V ÕÃiÌÌà Ài V`iÌ ,i«ÀÌ} -ÞÃÌi ÓääÇ iÛ> ° *>ÌÀV iÛ ° ÕÀi *RYHUQRU 6HFUHWDU\ RI 3XEOLF 6DIHW\ 6HFXULW\ -Ìi« i ° > / >à *° i>À` 6WDWH )LUH 0DUVKDO 'HSXW\ 6WDWH )LUH 0DUVKDO ABOUT THE COVERS The original drawings shown on the front and back covers are the year 2008 First and Second Place winning entries of the 26th Annual Statewide Arson Watch Reward Program Poster Contest, sponsored by the Massachusetts Property Insurance Underwriting Association (FAIR Plan), on behalf of all property and casualty insurance companies of Massachusetts. This year’s poster theme was “WAKE UP AND FACE THE FACTS – CARBON MONOXIDE / SMOKE DETECTORS SAVE LIVES.” A countywide contest was held for all students in grade 6-8. Coordinators from each county held individual countywide contests where they chose First and Second Place winners. All First Place County Winners had their posters submitted to Massachusetts Property Insurance Underwriting Association for entry into the Massachusetts Statewide contest. First, Second and Third Place State winners were announced at an Award Ceremony held at the Sheraton Framingham Hotel on May 28, 2008. The front cover shows a drawing submitted by Joshua Gardner, a student at the Adams Memorial Middle School, Adams, Massachusetts. Joshua’s poster was chosen as First Place Winner in the Berkshire County Poster Contest, and as a result, was automatically entered into the statewide contest, along with 7 other county winners, where it was chosen as the First Place Statewide Winner. The back cover shows a drawing submitted by Kacie Clinton, a student at the Bellingham Memorial Middle School, Bellingham, Massachusetts. Kacie’s poster was chosen as First Place Winner in the Norfolk County Poster Contest, and as a result, was also automatically entered into the statewide contest where it was chosen as the Second Place Statewide Winner. The Massachusetts FAIR Plan has generously sponsored the printing of the 2007 Annual Report of the Massachusetts Fire Incident Reporting System (MFIRS), as well as, the use of the first and second place posters for the covers, for the last 25 years. Massachusetts Fire Incident Reporting System 2007 Annual Report Publication Number: DFS-09-057-01 – 203 – 800 – 2/09 – DFS Approved by Ellen Bickelman, State Purchasing Agent Stephen D. Coan, State Fire Marshal Commonwealth of Massachusetts • Department of Fire Services Post Office Box 1025 State Road • Stow, Massachusetts 01775 Telephone (978) 567-3300 • Facsimile (978) 567-3199 This report is also available in an electronic format through the Fire Data section of the Department of Fires Services website: www.mass.gov/dfs/osfm/firedata/mfirs/index.htm Fireman’s Prayer When I am called to duty, God Wherever Flames may rage Give me the strength to save some life Whatever Be its age Help me embrace a little child Before it is too late Or save an older person from The horror of that fate Enable me to be alert and Hear the weakest shout And quickly and efficiently To put the fire out I want to fill my calling and To give the best in me To guard my every neighbor And protect their property And if according to your will I have to lose my life Please bless with your protecting hand My children and my wife -Unknown Foreword from the State Fire Marshal Our Mission: The mission of the Department of Fire Services is to provide the people of Massachusetts the ability to create safer communities through coordinated training, education, prevention, investigation, emergency response and leadership. November 2007 This is the 2007 Annual Report of the Massachusetts Fire Incident Reporting System (MFIRS) which summarizes the Massachusetts fire experience for 2007. It is based on the 33,522 individual fire reports submitted by members of 351 fire departments and fire districts. It is this effort that makes it possible to look at the total fire experience, to identify our fire problems and to develop strategies to address these issues. One of the goals of the Office of the State Fire Marshal is to provide the fire service and the public with accurate and complete information about the fire experience in Massachusetts. Civilian Fire Deaths Up 39% from All Time Low Sixty-one (61) civilians died in 48 Massachusetts fires during 2007. Civilian deaths increased by 17, or 39%, from the record low of 44 fire deaths in 2006. The majority of these victims died at night, while they were sleeping and did not have working smoke detectors or residential sprinklers. It is also important to remember that detectors only provide an early warning of a fire. They do not guarantee an escape. Residential sprinklers provide the best opportunity to safely escape from a fire in your home. It is also important to make and practice an escape plan. 3 Fire Related Firefighter Deaths in 2007 In 2007, there were three fire-related fire service fatalities in the Commonwealth of Massachusetts. Two (2) Boston firefighters died while fighting a restaurant fire and a Lowell firefighter died after responding to a small fire in a vacant apartment building. Disturbing Trend – Fire Deaths from Murders & Suicides. In 2007, there were seven fatal fires that were murders, suicides or murder/suicides. These seven fires caused 10 deaths. Three (3) of these fires and six of the deaths were related to acts of domestic violence; one was a murder and the other two were murder/suicides; two of these victims were children and two others were former girlfriends. One victim was killed after her assailant had set her body on fire believing that she was already dead by strangulation. Three (3) Massachusetts residents successfully committed acts of self-immolation on themselves in three separate fires. Our annual reports have measured the overall declining trend in fire deaths, and we’re making substantial progress. They have also measured the positive impact of smoke alarms in reducing fire deaths and multiple deaths in fires, as well as the impact of smoking laws and tobacco control programs on reducing fires and fire deaths. The Student Awareness of Fire Education Program (S.A.F.E.) has had the planned impact of reducing child fire deaths. Seniors own the fastest growing share of our population, so our prevention efforts must be expanded to include them, not just shift existing resources to them. Our relentless goal is to reduce the deaths, injuries and damage fires do in the Commonwealth, and to send each and every firefighter home safely at the end of the day. Foreword from the State Fire Marshal 2007 MFIRS Annual Report We must continue to fund and strengthen our code compliance efforts, and use enforcement tools when necessary. An important part is educating the public as to why fire codes are in place. We must continue to educate the public at every stage of their lives as to what they can do to prevent a fire and to survive the ones that will occur. Safe Neighborhoods Chemical Initiative In order to make catastrophes like the Danversport explosion of 2006 less likely in the future, a new inspection program was created. Through the new Safe Neighborhoods Chemical Initiative, teams of inspectors from the Massachusetts Department of Environmental Protection (DEP) and the Department of Fire Services (DFS) were joined by local fire departments in conducting hazard assessments at predominantly small to mid-sized facilities that were deemed to pose a significant danger to populations in the event of a problem or accident. This new initiative initially identified some 40 facilities across the Commonwealth for inspection based on proximity to densely populated areas or to sensitive populations, types or amounts of waste materials used and stored, and past history at the site. Self-Extinguishing Cigarettes a Reality in Massachusetts The Reduced Ignition Propensity (RIP) legislation or ‘fire safe cigarette’ law making it mandatory for cigarette manufacturers to start selling only the self-extinguishing type of cigarettes in Massachusetts took effect on January 1, 2008. By August of 2008 all of the states bordering Massachusetts will be selling self-extinguishing cigarettes; and by January 1, 2009 every state in the Northeast and Mid-Atlantic regions will only sell consumers these types of cigarettes. Next Steps - Sprinklered Nightclubs November 15, 2007 was the deadline for certain bars and nightclubs to complete the installation of sprinklers. While it is personally frustrating that not all installations were complete on that day, many more are well under way. In many ways, installing sprinklers in nightclubs was the unfinished business of the Cocoanut Grove fire and 2007 was the 65th anniversary of that tragedy. The requirement to retrofit certain bars and nightclubs with sprinklers was part of the Massachusetts Fire Safety Act passed in 2004 as a result of the Station Nightclub fire in Rhode Island that killed and injured so many from Massachusetts. We also wish to recognize the efforts of the staff of the Fire Data and Public Education Unit, Jennifer Mieth, manager; Derryl Dion, research analyst; Pavel Gorelik, programmer; and Usha Patel, data entry clerk, within the Office of the State Fire Marshal who manage the Massachusetts Fire Incident Reporting System and prepared this report. We would like to thank the Massachusetts Property Insurance Underwriting Association for printing this report and for their support throughout the year. We also wish to thank Governor Deval L. Patrick, and Public Safety and Security Secretary Kevin M. Burke for their commitment and support to