November 28, 2017
NEW HAVEN, CT--
Adults 65 or older accounted for 40 percent of all fire-related deaths in 2015 despite only constituting 15 percent of the U.S. population, with the relative risk of dying in a fire for senior citizens being 2.7 times higher than for the general population, according to the U.S. Fire Administration Fire Risk Report.
Orange Fire Marshal Timothy Smith said the disparity is relatively consistent throughout the nation, noting that areas with higher senior populations will have higher rates for fire-related deaths.
"A lot of it's attributed to mobility issues, disabilities, reactionary skills aren't there like they are with adults or young children or they can't self-evacuate or extricate themselves from a burning building," he said.
For Connecticut it is not clear if the specific nationwide numbers apply, due to missing information. Seven out of the 20 fire-related fatalities listed in 2016 in Connecticut do not list the individual's age. However, a state report on injury and death from 2000-04 showed the rate of death from fire for people 50 and older was about 4 times higher than that for people ages 10 to 49. There were an average of 30 fire-related deaths annually in those years, the state report noted.
With advancing age, physical and mental capabilities decline, making it more difficult for older adults to clearly see, smell and hear, increasing the risk of death or injury from fire due to decreased senses, the fire administration report noted.
Older people also can have physical disabilities or limitations that hinder their mobility, making it more difficult for them to react to the threat of a fire the way younger adults can.
The October wildfires in the heart of California wine country claimed 43 victims, and didn't discriminate by age, killing young and old. But Charles and Sara Rippey, who was confined to a wheelchair, did not make it out. The couple, married for 75 years, lived in Napa for the past 35, according to the San Francisco Chronicle, a sister Hearst newspaper of the New Haven Register. They died together in their home, unable to escape the wildfires.
Their bodies were found by police inside the charred ruins of their Silverado Country Club condominium on Westgate Drive. He was 100, and she was 98, according to the Chronicle.
Rippey apparently died trying to save his wife, one of their children told KPIX TV.
Alzheimer's disease, dementia and other disorders that affect mental functions also increase the risk of injury or death from a fire due to erratic or even potentially dangerous behavior and the inability to recognize a hazard, according to the report.
"You don't want to think, 'OK, I'll climb out of the window,' if you're a person confined to a bed or have a walker or if you have difficulty walking normally. You have to make your plans reasonable," said New Haven Fire Chief John Alston.
To compound this problem, older adults are more inclined to accidentally start a fire than younger adults. Sometimes, they are close to the source of a flame, and their clothes or bedding ignites, according to Smith.
"Cooking fires tend to be very common with the senior population because they forget they leave the stove on, and they walk away. Maybe, there's an early onset of dementia or other sort of mental issues going on. Or they're cooking with a bathrobe and the bathrobe catches fire because they aren't aware of it," he said.
Heating, in particular, also represents an elevated fire danger to older adults, who frequently feel cold. When the central heating source of a home does not work properly, Alston said older adults will often rely on temporary sources of heat, such as legal or illegal portable space heaters, fireplaces or even cooking ovens.
"It's a difficult population to try to change their evacuation skills, but detection doubles your chance, doubles everyone's chances, of escaping a fire," Smith said. "So early detection of a fire is probably the best thing for the senior population. The sooner they know about, the sooner they can be made of aware it, the sooner they can start the self-evacuation to protect themselves."
Smoke alarms are present in most homes, having saved many lives since the mid-1970s when their use was widely encouraged for the first time. While the number of senior citizens living in housing without smoke alarms or with alarms that do not work is not well-documented, Smith said senior citizens may not have access to smoke detectors and other equipment in poorer populations due to their inability to afford the detectors and/or the batteries.
Cromwell Town Councilman Al Waters, 74, said he changes his smoke detector batteries religiously twice a year. "That's the big thing," he said of the simple action fire officials urge people to do during the Daylight Saving Time change.
The American Red Cross has even coined the phrase, "Time to Turn and Test."
Waters said he is also vigilant about making sure passageways in his home are clear. "I don't keep the areas of exit cluttered," Waters said.
Often during emergencies, the elderly especially can become very disorientated, he said. Any impediments will make it difficult to make it outside to safety. Many may not even realize portions of their homes could be fire hazards, he said.
"I'm out every day moving," Waters said. "I just can't sit idle. There are people that, if they're getting 60 years or older, probably their reflexes are not as fast."
Waters said because he's so active, he has always taken the normal precautions when it comes to fire safety.
West Haven Fire Department Chief Jim O'Brien said residential sprinkler systems also help to reduce the risk of deaths and injuries, homeowner insurance premiums and uninsured property losses. While many homes do not have automatic extinguishing systems, despite them being found in hotels and businesses, O'Brien said there is a major movement in the U.S. fire service to require sprinklers in all new homes.
Smith said senior citizens are considered a target population for public education and intervention, explaining that as much as fire departments visit kids at schools and teach them the basics of fire safety, they also go to senior centers to teach senior citizens about senior fire safety and home escape.
"What we're finding is when the seniors call us to come in and do a presentation, they want us there. So they're truly interested in the subject and they want to learn it, as opposed to kids where the teachers are telling them they have to be there," he said. "That's a huge gap in between there. So a lot of these people, they're upcoming seniors, they haven't really had any fire safety education as they're entering their 'golden years.'"