Since the start of this year, at least eight people in
Detroit have died in fires that occurred in houses where the heat and
electricity had been shut off by DTE Energy, the local
utility provider. The residents of these homes were too poor to pay for
these services. They were forced to turn to unsafe methods
in order to try to stay warm as temperatures dropped, and they
paid for this with their lives.
There is a clear link between utility shutoffs and house
fires, particularly in the wintertime. It is driven by the fact that people
resort to electric and kerosene space heaters once they
have lost the use of their central heating systems, or turn to candles
for
illumination when their electricity has been disconnected.
It is a well-established fact that using space heaters
increases the risk of fire death. According to a report by the National
Fire
Protection Agency (NFPA) released earlier this year,
in the period from 2003 to 2007, nationwide 72 percent of home heating
fire deaths and 62 percent of home heating injuries 'involved
stationary or portable space heaters.'
The risk of death posed by using space heaters is 18 to
25 times higher than that associated with central heating systems.
Additionally, those heaters that rely on gas, the report
notes, 'pose a higher risk of death due to non-fire carbon monoxide
poisoning.'
As might be expected, incidences of home heating fires
increase significantly during cold months, with 49 percent of all such
events having occurred between December and February
during the years 2003 to 2007.
In the South, where both fire-death rates and poverty
are the highest, there is a greater use of space heaters. This is due to
a
combination of 'affordability' problems and a lack of
central heating systems in many homes.
The relationship between the use of space heaters and
financial hardship is also well known. For example, the NFPA notes that
people rely on kerosene-fueled space heaters because
of 'the opportunity for savings from compartmentalized heating, i.e.,
savings from heating only the spaces that are in use.'
David Fox of the National Low-Income Energy Consortium
(NLIEC) underscored these points in an interview with the World
Socialist Web Site.
'Regardless of whether its shut off or simply that bills
are so high that people voluntarily limit usage, several things
happen,' Fox noted. 'People use space heaters, kerosene
heaters, that increase risk of fire and carbon monoxide
poisoning. And people limit use of electricity. They
light the home with candles, which are often too close to something
combustible.'
The consequences of energy poverty
In 2001, the National Fuel Funds Network (NFFN) published
a study entitled 'In Harm's Way: Home Heating, Fire
Hazards and Low-Income Households,' which directly draws
out the link between utility shutoffs and increased fire
dangers.
'In addition to facing the health impact of cold homes,
households that are placed in jeopardy of losing their home heating
service, or who actually experience the termination of
service, face the safety problems associated with a resort to unsafe
alternative methods for heating as well.'
Observing that there has been 'a new move to auxiliary
heating sources, attributable to high natural gas prices, substantial
arrears, and a high rate of utility service terminations,'
there 'opens up the possibility of an associated new fire risk for
low-income households.'
After pointing out the 'significant association' between
poverty and higher residential fire death rates, the NFFN outlines
the further fire risks associated with being poor, including
'not being able to afford smoke detectors,' 'not being able
to afford a telephone' and 'living in less fire resistant
housing.'
A study prepared by the NLIEC in 2004 about the consequences
of 'energy poverty' in the state of Missouri, provides
some statistical details about the link between utility
shutoffs and unsafe heating methods.
'A high percentage of households reporting the use of
their kitchen oven for space heating have experienced the
disconnection or discontinuation of service for nonpayment,'
it states. Nearly 60 percent of who used their oven to stay
warm had their service shut off either 'often' or 'sometimes.'
'The safety burdens,' the study points out, 'fall primarily
on the lowest income households in Missouri. While 50
percent of households with incomes between 101 percent
and 150 percent of the poverty level never used their kitchen oven
for space heating, only 40 percent of the households
below 50 percent of the poverty level could report that.'
The fire dangers posed by utility shutoffs extend beyond
simply the question of heating. Using data drawn from 1997-98, a
study released by the NFPA in 2007 reports that 24 percent
of fatal candle fires occurred in homes where the power had been
shut off for reasons other than a short-term outage.
Furthermore, the study notes that 'most of the catastrophic (multiple fire
death) candle fires…involve candles
used for light due to lack of power, due to either a temporary situation
or a termination of
service.'
As an example, the study notes that in 2006 five people
perished in a house fire in Ohio sparked by using a candle for light after
their power was shut off. Using flashlights, the NFPA
notes, is not a realistic alternative for impoverished people, as those
'who cannot afford to pay their electric bills may also
have difficulty affording flashlights and batteries.'
Sharon Gamache, the director of High-Risk Outreach at
the NFPA, told the WSWS, 'I would say that any time that you
have conditions in which people have more fuel and central
heating, they are less likely to use other unsafe methods. In that
sense, there's a logical relationship between access
to utilities and fire safety.'
The health consequences of living without adequate heat and electricity
Both DTE Energy and the Michigan Public Service Commission---the
governor-appointed agency that is responsible for
regulating the energy monopoly---know that as soon as
utilities are cut to a household, the circumstances are created in which
the risk of a deadly house fire increases. This link
is purposefully ignored. Furthermore, the utility company and the government
are aware of the long-term negative health consequences
for people of living without adequate heat and electricity, which are
also well established.
Jerry McKim, the director of Iowa's Low Income Home Energy
Assistance Program (LIHEAP), recently described the
effects of 'unaffordable energy' as 'dire.'
'In an effort to better afford their utility bills, many
elderly households cut back on prescribed medicine and/or set their
thermostats too low risking their already insecure health
and families with young children sacrifice their children's nutritional
needs. Disconnected households use unsafe methods of
heating that increase the risk of carbon monoxide poisoning, and those
who live by candlelight increase the likelihood of a
house fire tragedy,' McKim is quoted as stating in a February 22 press
release from the National Energy Assistance Directors'
Association (NEADA).
He added, 'This is more than an energy issue and needs
to be acknowledged for what it is: a serious public health
matter.'
McKim's comments are substantiated by a joint report produced
by the NFFN, NLIEC, and NEADA entitled, 'The
Cold Facts.' It notes that the effect of high energy
bills on low-income households are 'homelessness,'
'malnutrition,' 'heart disease,' 'heat stroke' and the
'the disintegration of families.'
The Children's Sentinel Nutrition Assessment Program reports
in a 2007 study that babies and toddlers who live in energy
insecure households disproportionately suffer from poor
health, a history of hospitalizations, increased risk of developments
problems, and food insecurity. Furthermore, the inadequacy
of aid for low-income households from government programs
increases health risks. Children in those families that
are LIHEAP-eligible but are not receiving assistance are 'significantly
more likely to be underweight.'
There are currently record numbers of people in the state
of Michigan, and throughout the country as a whole, seeking
assistance from LIHEAP. Applications to the Michigan
LIHEAP are up 38 percent for fiscal year 2010, the third highest
increase among all states, following behind Mississippi
(68 percent) and Washington (42 percent). This jump, which represents
requests from an additional 240,799 households, is a
sign of a pervasive state of 'energy insecurity,' which has reached
epidemic proportions. Poster's note: Problems
with this: H.E.A.P requires a HEAP of stamped envelopes costined
much needed food money, many long walks to visit post office for
people without vehicles. Dollars for xeroxes IF ONE can find a xerox shop.
A need for exact records and receipts which the poor don't keep,
last and worst, they don't pay right away. It takes months.
Under these conditions, the policy of shutting off people's
utilities for non-payment and keeping utility rates excessively high
is creating a serious health crisis in the United States.
The response of DTE and the government
In order to absolve themselves of their responsibility
for depriving people of light and warmth, DTE, with the aid of the media,
maligns victims of shutoffs as 'energy thieves.' It claims
that it must sever unauthorized hookups to outside power lines
for health and safety reasons. This is a red herring.
The energy giant is unconcerned about the consequences to people's
health and safety when they fail to properly restore
gas and electricity to a home.
For its part, the government echoes DTE's claims that
'many options' are available to those who would seek out
assistance. In so doing, they give support to the utility
company's insistence that those who fail to receive such aid and
resort to other methods to get electricity are 'stealing.'
The government is far more concerned about protecting the profit
interests of DTE than the health and safety of the working
population.
The implication that there is enough aid to help people facing the possible shutoff of their utilities is also false and it has been for decades.
David Fox of the NLIEC told the World Socialist Web Site
in an interview, 'No, the resources are not adequate and yes
there should be more.
'In 1982, which is the first year that LIHEAP became a
national program, Congress gave it $1.85 billion. As recently as five
years ago, it was funded at $1.875 billion. Just in order
to keep up with inflation, the number would have had to be $4 billion.
'Two to three years ago when we saw a spike in energy
costs, more money was directed to LIHEAP, an additional $1.5
billion. But even then it was only serving about 15 percent
of all households eligible for the program. Then Congress raised
funding for LIHEAP to $5.5 billion, the maximum allowed
by federal law. That allowed us to reach 9.9 million households, the
largest number ever. But this was still less than 20
percent of eligible households. That tells me that it doesn't take a
mathematician to say that even at its highest level,
we are grossly underfunded.'
Moreover, as Fox noted, LIHEAP is on track to see its
funding further reduced. 'I'm getting dangerously close to
lobbying, which I'm not supposed to do. But let me put
it this way. The Obama administration has proposed that $3.6
billion be allocated in the coming year. That's a step
in the wrong direction if that happens, even just from the perspective
of the numbers.'
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