Excerpts from dnainfo.com:
Residents of the South and West Sides are at a far greater risk for house fires — and more likely to get injured or die in a fire — than residents in other neighborhoods across the city and nation.
Parts of Englewood are among the most at risk of getting injured in a house fire of any neighborhoods in the nation. Homes in those neighborhoods are also far less likely to have working smoke detectors.
Not only are there far more fires reported in neighborhoods like Englewood and Austin but those fires tend to cause more injuries and fatalities, according to a comprehensive national map of fire risk created by New York-based nonprofit DataKind and more than 50 volunteers.
The DataKind map of fire risk, which launched in June of 2016, tracked the number of fires in individual census tracts over the past five years and the likelihood a home has a smoke detector using surveys conducted by the U.S. Census. Researchers also looked at the severity of injuries suffered by residents whose homes are hit by fires to create a fire-risk score.
SEARCH YOUR NEIGHBORHOOD ON DATAKIND’S HOUSE FIRE RISK MAP
The differences are stark: One part of Englewood — between Morgan, 63rd, Racine and 59th — has a house fire-risk score of 78, the ninth highest in the nation. Its score is nearly four times higher than a part of Gold Coast bounded by Bellevue, Michigan Chicago and State. Four other census tracts in Englewood are in the 100 riskiest census tracts in the nation.
Other neighborhoods that have parts with risk scores over 70 include West Englewood, Back of the Yards, Austin, Roseland and Humboldt Park. On the other end of the spectrum, neighborhoods with parts with less than 30 points of risk include West Town, The Loop, Lincoln Park and Lakeview. Many neighborhoods on the North Side, particularly the ones along the lakefront, aren’t at risk at all.
Overall, on a national scale, residents of Cook County are at a greater risk for house fires than residents in Manhattan or Los Angeles, but not by much. Cook County has a risk score of 49, which is only slightly higher than New York County (44) and Los Angeles County (45).
Humboldt Park, particularly the western portion, is another neighborhood where house fire risk is high compared to other neighborhoods in the city. To combat this, local organizations in Humboldt Park are banding together to fight against a surge of house fires in the neighborhood.
The organizations — La Casa Norte, American Red Cross, Center for Changing Lives, Latin United Community Housing Association, NHS of West Humboldt Park, Chicago Commons and 26th Ward’s Ald. Roberto Maldonado — are all teaming up on an outreach event May 6, where teams of trained volunteers will visit the homes of at least 300 interested residents to install smoke detectors and discuss fire safety.
According to the Chicago Fire Department, there are a number of reasons why house fires occur at a much higher rate on the South and West Sides than on the North Side. For one, there’s a much higher rate of poverty on the South and West Sides, which leads to heating issues in homes. That, plus poor electrical wiring and old structures, create a recipe for a house fire.
Despite this, the number of house fire fatalities in Chicago have decreased dramatically since the 1970s. Back then, the city was seeing nearly 200 fatalities per year and now the city typically sees about 20 per year.
By identifying high-risk neighborhoods, DataKind and its partner the American Red Cross can target the areas that are most in need of fire safety education and free smoke alarms.
Humboldt Park residents should email info@lacasanorte.org or call 773-276-4900 to sign up for free smoke detector installation on May 6. Residents west of the park are also eligible for this service.
thanks Dan and Dennis
