Two Eastern Iowa fires that killed a combined nine people, including four children, within five days made 2017 the deadliest year in more than a decade for fire deaths in Iowa.
The State Fire Marshal’s Office reported 38 confirmed fire deaths as of Wednesday, with another 13 expected to go on the list, said Ron Humphrey, special agent in charge of the Office’s Arson and Explosives Bureau.
“We’re tentatively at 51 for the year,” Humphrey said. “There have been several multi-fatality cases. Those start to add up pretty quickly.” On Wednesday, investigators had yet to release the names of four family members who died in an early Christmas Day house fire in Blue Grass, a small bedroom community a few miles west of Davenport.