The Senior Citizen Fire Safety Task Force issued 30 recommendations this week to combat what it calls the “epidemic” of Montgomery County’s older residents dying in residential fires.
Fourteen of the county’s 15 fire fatalities in the past four years were senior citizens. The most recent were last month, when 88-year-old Craig and 84-year-old Patricia Reynolds were killed in a fire at their Kensington home.
“This is a tragic trend that must be stopped,” County Executive Ike Leggett said in a news release. “Today — with the introduction of the task force report — we’re taking the first step toward helping to remedy that problem.”
Among the task force’s recommendations to be immediately implemented:
» Identify and target seniors with sensory impairments (visual and hearing) and help them install smoke alert devices that address their impairments;
» Establish a staff position for senior fire safety that will oversee the application of the report’s recommendations.
Short- and long-term recommendations focus on education programs, increased funding for such programs through collaboration with other organizations and exploring the idea of allowing people with disabilities to register as such with the 911 system so they are identified as such to first responders in the event of an emergency.
According to the county, the fire fatality rate for residents older than 65 is nearly twice the overall national average, and the rate for those older than 75 is three times the national average.
Former County Executive Doug Duncan appointed the 26-member task force in March 2006. The task force will serve a two-year term ending in May 2008, but county spokeswoman Bonnie Ayers told The Examiner that the task force could continue its mission, or a new task force could be started depending on the problem’s severity.
Montgomery County Fire and Rescue Service Chief Tom Carr said his agency will begin its Summer of Safety program, which will focus on fire prevention.
“We need to create a culture of safety,” Carr said.
