Tragedy By Fire

The deaths and destruction caused by fires over the last five weeks have been unlike anything this area has ever seen in that short period       of time. After a 62-year Norwalk woman succumbed to injuries caused by a fire in her condominium on Tuesday, there have been seven people from Fairfield County who have died when the houses they were in, went  up in flames.

"I'm very concerned regarding the number of fatalities in preventable fires  in the area," told Patch. "I know that my peers in fire departments from other towns are equally concerned and we are looking forward to getting together to develop region-wide strategies on how to prevent these tragedies from continuing to happen."

The fires and tragedies happened almost as quickly as a blaze tears through a house.

• December 24. The area, region, and entire nation was stunned when a claimed the lives of parents and three young children. Improperly disposed embers ignited the blaze.
• January 15. A fire ignited by improperly disposed ashes, tore through the New Canaan home of Peggy Lee. Lee and her family barely escaped and did not suffer any injuries.
• January 23. of New Canaan was killed when a fire ripped through the off-campus house he was staying in at Marist College in New York.
• January 31. A fire started by a woman allegedly smoking in her bed, caused serious damage to Sheffield Ridge condominium complex on Maple Street in Norwalk. Judy O'Brien died while her 92-year old mother, Marjorie Johnson, suffered injuries.

All the fires, except the one at Marist College, were confirmed to be caused by carelessness in disposing of embers, ashes, and cigarettes.

"The message for personal responsibility, fire safety, and preventable fires is not getting through," said McCarthy. "We need to re-evaluate how the message is getting across, to whom it's getting across to, and how it's being repeated through the media and other vehicles."

McCarthy said he's also concerned about people smoking in houses and the lack of fire detectors installed even after the tragedy in Stamford, "We have a meeting for the coastal chiefs in Fairfield tomorrow (Friday) and this will definitely be addressed. People are just not getting the message and we need to make sure they do."