Reducing arson has been a priority for the Dayton Fire Department. Dayton’s arson unit spent more than 2,000 hours patrolling city neighborhoods to catch people who deliberately start fires, said Scott Jacobs, Dayton fire prevention specialist.
“We had those guys out all the time,” Jacobs said.
There were 107 arson fires confirmed in 2018, marking a 15 percent decline from 2017, according to the department. There were 312 structure fires last year, down 14 percent from 2017 and the fewest in at least seven years, fire department data shows.
At $2.8 million, the blazes caused the less financial damage in 2018 than they did in the previous 34 years, data adjusted for inflation shows. That’s millions down from the average cost of fire destruction each year between 2007 and 2017 was around $6.1 million.
Damage caused by smoke, flames and the water used extinguish them can be expensive to fix. Dayton homes that suffered recent fire damage often required repairs between $10,000 to $60,000, building permits show.
Repairs for a single-story home on the 4900 block of Poppa Drive that caught fire in April was expected to cost around $200,000, according to a city of Dayton building permit.
Most Fires can be avoided and that’s why prevention is a top priority for the Dayton Fire Department and the State Fire Marshall, said Brian Bohnert, spokesperson for the State Fire Marshall.
“Stop, drop and roll” is good advice for people whose clothing is on fire. But that’s rare, Jacobs said. When there’s a fire, people should get low to the ground and get outside to fresh air as quickly as possible, even if it means climbing through a window and jumping off a balcony or roof, he said.
The top three most common causes of fires are electrical, smoking and cooking, said Bohnert. Some tips to preventing a blaze include never leaving food unattended while cooking and taking care to avoid overloading electrical circuits and outlets, officials said.
Bigger fires, officials warned, can also take a human toll.
In early February 2018, a fire broke out in a high-rise apartment building on McDaniels Street in the McPherson Town neighborhood. Eric Little, 47, was taken to the hospital but did not survive.
In September, a blaze that started in the kitchen of a home on Tampa Avenue spread quickly. Charonda Childs, 23, and her 7-month-old son, Cassius Childs-Hunt, were pulled from the home and transported to the hospital. They did not recover.
The cause of death for at least four of the people in Dayton who were killed by fires last year was smoke inhalation, according to the Montgomery County Coroner’s Office. The best way to avoid injuries or worse is by installing smoke and carbon monoxide alarms near bedrooms and on every floor of one’s home.
“We’re doing what we can to ensure people understand the hazards,” Bohnert said. “Obviously it’s a huge priority for us to get that number down, educate people and help save lives.”
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