West Virginia Fire Commission Failed 50 Years on Safety Plan

West Virginia is one of the deadliest states for house fires, killing an average of 32 people per year between 2009 and 2023. Yet an investigation by Mountain State Spotlight has revealed that the state’s Fire Commission has failed for five decades to produce the comprehensive fire prevention plan it was statutorily required to create.

An audit of the State Fire Commission released in December 2025 by the West Virginia Legislative Auditor’s Office found the commission is not in compliance with West Virginia Code 15A-11-8(e), which requires the development of a plan for fire prevention and control covering everything from manpower needs and training center locations to public education and water sources.

A Mandate Ignored Since 1976

When the State Fire Commission was created in 1976, it was charged with developing this plan. Fifty years later, no such document has ever been produced.

Testifying before a Government Organization Committee in December, State Fire Marshal Ken Tyree Jr. said he did not realize his agency was supposed to produce one comprehensive plan until the recent audit brought it to his attention. He said his office is now drafting the document and plans to finish it in the fall of 2026—the first one in fifty years.

“Current leadership of the State Fire Commission and State Fire Marshal’s Office recognize that a fragmented approach is unacceptable,” Tyree said. “In the past, policy elements existed across several agency documents, manuals, and regional programs.”

Decades of Deadly Statistics

The failure to produce a plan is particularly troubling given the state’s persistent fire death problem. In 21 of the years between 2000 and 2023, West Virginia ranked in the top 10 nationally for fire deaths at double the national average.

Andrew Holt, a PERD analyst who presented the audit findings, told lawmakers that “from 2000 until last year, the state ranked in the top 10 nationally in 21 of 24 years. In nearly half of those years, West Virginia ranked in the top four states for fire death rates, and in four years it ranked number one.”

This is not a new problem. In 2000, the Legislative Auditor’s Office found the state ranked among the deadliest in the country. At the time, auditors noted the commission didn’t utilize its public information officer, engaged in little public education outside of Kanawha County where it is headquartered, and hadn’t written a comprehensive plan.

“A Fire Protection and Control plan is needed to address the State’s high fire death rate,” auditors concluded. “Agreed,” wrote Sterling Lewis Jr., the State Fire Marshal at that time.

Between 2000 and 2003, 150 West Virginians died in residential fires.

Repeated Audits, Repeated Warnings

In 2004, auditors checked in on the State Fire Commission again. While the commission had made strides on public education and smoke detector distribution, fire commissioners still hadn’t written a plan. Auditors noted, “It is still the statutory responsibility of the Fire Commission to reduce the high fire death rate in West Virginia.”

Between 2004 and 2012, West Virginia remained in the top 10 states for fire deaths. Then in 2012, auditors released another report with the same conclusions. 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, “I found it to be very helpful in improving our ability in being able to go forward to serve the citizens of West Virginia.” However, the Fire Commission produced no plan that year either.

Understanding the Root Causes

Auditors have identified several factors driving West Virginia’s persistently high fire death rate: poverty causing people to use alternative forms of heat, high smoking rates, an elderly population, and a prevalence of old houses and manufactured homes. Rural topography also contributes to longer response times, with 96% of the state covered by volunteer fire service.

Tyree, who became Fire Marshal in 2015, said he can’t 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.

A Plan Finally in the Works

Tyree outlined several immediate actions his office plans to take, including increasing engagement in local communities with additional resources and education to fire departments, schools, daycares, and community centers; updating the 52-week fire prevention guide; expanding involvement in local community smoke alarm installation programs; targeting areas with high fire risk, called “hot spots”; identifying areas with inoperable fire hydrants or none at all; and focusing on recruitment issues for volunteer fire stations.

“The 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,” Tyree said.

A Pattern of Neglect

The fire commission’s failure is part of a broader pattern of safety planning neglect in West Virginia. A related investigation by Mountain State Spotlight found that West Virginia and Kentucky officials repeatedly ignored plans to prepare for catastrophic flooding, similar to the fire commission’s failure to produce a fire prevention plan.

What’s Next

The State Fire Marshal’s Office says the draft fire prevention plan is being actively worked on and reviewed to ensure compliance with West Virginia code. The document has been presented and discussed during the December fire commission meeting, with all commissioners provided a draft and encouraged to provide comments and feedback.

The plan is expected to be submitted to the legislative oversight committee and published for public review ahead of the Fall 2026 legislative interim sessions. Whether it will finally address the systemic issues that have left West Virginia with one of the nation’s highest fire death rates for a quarter century remains to be seen.

For lawmakers and the public, the question now is whether this long-overdue document will mark a genuine turning point—or become yet another report that sits on a shelf while the state’s fire death toll continues to climb.