300 North Carolinians Died in Fires, 1921

“Many Die by Fire” from the April, 1921, issue of The Health Bulletin, published by the North Carolina State Board of Health.

Nearly 300 people in North Carolina met their death last year by fire, the total being barely below the record for the previous year. In 1920 there were 18 lives lost in conflagrations, while 279 died from other burns. The total was 297. For 1919 there were 24 lives lost in conflagrations, and 276 from other burns. The total was 301, just four more than for the last year.

The majority of the deaths from burns were children, resulting from the accidental catching fire of their clothes, either from open fires or from playing with matches. In the list of those dying in conflagrations are also children who had been left alone in houses that caught on fire.

The death rate from disease is being steadily reduced in the State, but the accident hazard, as the figures quoted show, remains practically unchanged.