Smoking, winter heating, hoarding and cooking fires are the top causes of fire fatalities in Ohio, according to a press release from the State Fire Marshal. 

To educate the public about reducing their risk, and in honor of Consumer Protection Week on March 6-12, the Ohio Department of Commerce Division of State Fire Marshal is hosting a webinar to discuss top known causes for fire fatalities in Ohio and to provide prevention education.

The press release from the State Fire Marshal division specified that 20% of fire deaths were smoking-related, including smoking while on oxygen, smoking while tired or medicated and discarding cigarettes in an unapproved container.

The featured speakers for the webinar will be State Fire Marshal Kevin Reardon, Fire Prevention Bureau Chief Ken Kouda and Fire and Explosion Investigations Bureau Chief Joshua Hobbs. 

The webinar, to be held Thursday, March 10, at 2 p.m., will be open to the public. To join the meeting on Microsoft Teams, visit https://teams.live.com and enter 682042763@t.plcm.vc, with video conference ID 119 709 768 3. For audio only, call 614-721-2972; the phone conference ID is 222 413 332#.

To learn more about fire prevention and how the Ohio Department of Commerce Division of State Fire Marshal works, visit com.ohio.gov.