HONOLULU (AP) -- 2004 is shaping up to be one of the worst years in recent memory for fire deaths on Oahu, Honolulu fire officials said.
As of the first of this month, 13 people had been killed in house fires on Oahu, compared with one death in 2003, one in 2002 and three in 2001.
``In my tenure at the Fire Department (23 years), this is the most number of fire fatalities that I can remember,'' Assistant Chief Ken Silva said . ``We have had kind of an unusual year.''
The last time the number of fire deaths hit double digits was in 1997, when 11 people died, seven in the same house fire.
Two of this year's fires have been classified as homicides or murder-suicides, fire officials said.
Most fatal fires can be prevented by making sure homes have working smoke alarms and escape routes that everyone knows by heart, Silva said.
Fire investigators did not find evidence of working smoke alarms in many of the fatal fires this year, he said. Many families also did not have escape plans, he said.
``Typically when fires happen, either late at night or really early in the morning, you're not wide awake to begin with,'' he said. ``If you have something ingrained, it's automatic.''
The holiday season is especially dangerous because of extra lights and heaters many people use, Silva said.
Despite the high number of deaths this year, Hawaii ranks near the bottom nationally in the number of fire deaths and rate of fire deaths per 1 million people.
According to the U.S. Fire Administration, Hawaii had the second lowest rate of fire deaths per million population in 2001, with 4.1. Only Utah had a lower rate at 3.1.
Last year, there were 1.58 million fires in the U.S. resulting in 3,925 deaths, 18,125 injuries and more than $12 billion in damages.
