"This year, we've had two fatalities that were directly a result from a house fire,” says Longview Fire Marshal, Kevin May.
He’s referencing just two of the eleven deaths that have come because of house fires in East Texas, and that number represents more than 10% of house fire fatalities in the state. "Smoke is what normally causes a death in a fire. That's why as the smoke rises, we encourage people you need to stay low, crawl to safety and get out to the smoke."
According to a new report by ASecureLife.com, Texas leads the nation in the number of house fire fatalities between the start of the year through August. Included in the state’s total are two home fire-related deaths in Kilgore, one in Tyler, and another in Athens.
"The most common cause still is unattended cooking or a cooking fire, somebody putting on a pot of grease and forgetting about it,” says May.