Whatcom County led the state in fatal fires in 2022. Here’s why
Whatcom County led the state in fatal fires last year, according to preliminary figures from the Washington State Fire Marshal’s Office.
Seven Whatcom County residents died in fires in 2022, said Alicia Causey, assistant deputy state fire marshal, a figure that was confirmed by local fire service officials:
▪ Four people died in Bellingham fires last year, said Fire Department Capt. Dustin Michaelis.
One person was killed in a car that burst into flames after hitting a tree; one person died in a tent that burned when a heater ignited a foam mattress; one person died in a fire caused by an unattended candle; and smoking material was suspected in the fourth fatal fire, Michaelis told The Bellingham Herald.
▪ Two people died in a July 11 fire east of Ferndale.
▪ One man died in a Sept. 2 fire southeast of Blaine.
Both fires outside Bellingham were in mobile homes, according to previous Herald reporting.
Causey told The Herald that fires are commonly caused by heaters placed too close to combustible material and smoking.
“Those are the top two causes that we see across all times of the year,” she said.
But more people are being killed in car fires and recreational vehicle fires, with the popularity of the “van life” trend and people who can’t afford a home, Causey said.
Many RV fires, however, start the same way as house fires: a heater that’s too close to flammable material, smoking and cooking, she said.
“We are also seeing a lot of people who (kill themselves) by fire over the past five years,” the state’s Causey said.
Statewide, about 80 people died in fires last year, according to data compiled by the state fire marshal, which is part of the Washington State Patrol.
Whatcom County’s seven deaths were more than King, Thurston and Spokane counties, which had six deaths each, according to preliminary reports, Causey said.
Statewide data was incomplete because reports are still being compiled from fire agencies through the National Fire Incident Reporting System, Causey told The Herald.
An official at the Whatcom County Medical Examiner’s Officer told The Herald that their records show six fire deaths in Whatcom County.
There were four deaths by fire in 2021, according to the Whatcom County medical examiner’s annual report, but only three were reported to state fire officials.
