West Virginia is one of the deadliest states for house fires, killing an average of 32 people per year between 2009 and 2023.
An in December of 2025 noted that the commission hadn鈥檛 compiled a state-mandated plan to prevent these deaths.
Testifying before a Government Organization Committee in December, State Fire Marshal, Ken Tyree Jr. said that .
He said his office is drafting the document now and plans to finish it in the Fall of 2026.
It would be the first one in fifty years.
When the state fire commission was created in 1976, it with developing a plan for fire prevention and control, which includes assessing manpower needs, location of training centers, location of water sources and public education and information needs.
鈥淚t would be beneficial to develop a plan in compliance with statute that assesses various fire protection needs throughout the state and identify possible solutions to prevalent problems,鈥� auditors wrote in 2025.
This month, Tyree said he did not know why the commission hadn鈥檛 produced a report for all this time.
鈥淐urrent leadership of the State Fire Commission and State Fire Marshal鈥檚 Office recognize that a fragmented approach is unacceptable. In the past, policy elements existed across several agency documents, manuals, and regional programs,鈥� he said.
However the past Fire Marshal also agreed to create a plan and address underlying causes behind fatal fires, most of which are residential.
In 21 of the years between 2000 and 2023, West Virginia ranked in the top 10 nationally for fires deaths at double the national average. But the state鈥檚 record on fire deaths was troubling long before that.
the state ranked among the deadliest in the country. At the time, they noted the commission didn鈥檛 utilize its public information officer, engaged in little public education outside of Kanawha County, where it is headquartered, and hadn鈥檛 written a comprehensive plan.
At that time, auditors also noted several factors driving the high fire death rate, such as poverty causing people to use alternative forms of heat, high smoking rates, an elderly population and a prevalence of old houses and manufactured homes.
鈥淎 Fire Protection and Control plan is needed to address the State鈥檚 high fire death rate,鈥� auditors concluded.
鈥淎greed,鈥� wrote Sterling Lewis Jr., the State Fire Marshal at that time.
Between 2000 and 2003, 150 West Virginians died in residential fires.
In 2004, auditors .
They noted that the public information officer had additional responsibilities which detracted from her public information duties. They recommended that the fire commission should devote greater attention to statistical analysis as a tool to reduce the state鈥檚 high fire death rate.
While the commission had made strides on public education and smoke detector distribution, fire commissioners still hadn鈥檛 written a plan.
Auditors noted, 鈥淚t is still the statutory responsibility of the Fire Commission to reduce the high fire death rate in West Virginia.鈥�
Between 2004 and 2012, West Virginia remained in the top 10 states for fire deaths.
Then in The conclusions were the same. West Virginia was still one of the deadliest states for fires, and the commission still hadn鈥檛 written a plan.
Fifty-three West Virginians died in residential fires that year, making the state the most deadly for fires in the nation.
Responding to the audit, Lewis wrote, 鈥淚 found it to be very helpful in improving our ability in being able to go forward to serve the citizens of West Virginia.鈥�
However, the Fire Commission produced no plan that year.
Tyree became Fire Marshal in 2015.
He said he can鈥檛 answer why his predecessors had not compiled a fire plan when these issues were pointed out to them. Many of the causes of fires today have largely remained the same as in 2000.
Tyree said the tactics have evolved over the years to target areas with high fire risk, called 鈥渉ot spots,鈥� focusing local outreach in high-risk demographic areas.
He said his office is currently working on the fire plan that employs these tactics, identifies areas with inoperable fire hydrants or none at all, focuses on recruitment issues for volunteer fire stations and establishes quarterly metrics to share with the commission and lawmakers.
鈥淭he document is currently undergoing final internal review, will be submitted to the legislative oversight committee and published for public review ahead of the Fall 2026 legislative interim sessions,鈥� he said.
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