Fire risk isn't the same across New York City, study finds. These communities are in more danger.

Last year, 17 people were killed in a fire at a New York City apartment building that housed mostly West African immigrants. Just four days before, 12 people died in another blaze in a Black neighborhood in Philadelphia.

Among those killed in both incidents were 17 children. 

Since then, burn prevention and public health specialists asked: How many other residential fires and heating complaints occur throughout New York City, and where? And, are neighborhoods of color more at risk? 

In a new study, a research team found Black and Latino neighborhoods in New York City were more likely to experience structural fires and heating complaints. The researchers examined city data on more than 4,000 fire incident dispatches and 38,000 heat and hot water complaints made to the city by tenants.

Experts say the study adds to longstanding evidence of disparities in housing safety, fire risk, energy inequities, and injury or death.

“Home should be a refuge for families, but for too many families it is not. Substandard housing lacking basics like heat and hot water is a constant source of stress for families, and as these findings demonstrate, far too common in Black and Latino communities,” said Dr. Maida Galvez, founding director of the New York State Children’s Environmental Health Center, who was not involved in the study.

“These very same communities often bear the brunt of a range of environmental burdens.”

What the study found

Dr. Clifford Charles Sheckter, a surgeon and burn care specialist at Santa Clara Valley Medical Center, analyzed district data to explore whether there is “a more systemic relationship between heating complaints, unsafe heating and fires.” 

His team studied New York City's 59 community districts, more than 38,000 heating complaints and almost 4,000 structural fires between 2017 and 2022.

Neighborhoods that had more fires also had more heating complaints, the team found. Not only were complaints correlated with fires, but more fires occurred in districts with larger numbers of Black and Latino residents, according to the study published in the Journal of the American Medical Association Network Open.

In New York, a tenant first reports heat and water issues to their landlord, and if the landlord is not responsive they can file a complaint to the city.

Sheckter said these findings could mean “people are resorting to unsafe practices to get heat," and hopes to replicate the study in other areas of the nation.

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What's causing these structural fires?

In the case of the Bronx fire, a space heater ignited the fire and smoke billowed through the building. All of the victims died of smoke inhalation.

In Philadelphia, authorities said the fire began after a child playing with a lighter caught a Christmas tree on fire, which set the rowhome ablaze. The victims in this fire also died of smoke inhalation. The building, owned by the city's public housing agency, had no working smoke detectors, and some of the apartments had overcrowding issues.

The National Fire Protection Association reports the majority of house fires are caused by cooking, followed by heating equipment and electrical problems.

Structural fires are a public health problem – especially in communities of color

Communities of color disproportionately grapple with substandard housing, experts say, and more awareness is needed about how lack of heat efficiency poses a major safety risk.

“Living without enough heat and hot water can be dangerous for families,” said Sarah Evans, assistant professor at the Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai. 

For example, a 2020 study of 10,000 hospital burn patients in North Carolina found the majority came from the most disadvantaged areas, researchers wrote in the medical journal Burns.

About 1.35 million American households were deemed severely inadequate in 2017, according to the Urban Institute. That's defined as any home with significant electrical, plumbing and heating problems.

Poorer families sometimes can’t afford heating bills and may restrict energy use, resorting to unsafe heating, said Diana Hernandez, a sociologist at Columbia Mailman School of Public Health who studies the intersections between energy, equity, housing and health.

The New York State Children’s Environmental Health Center, for example, developed informational fliers on space heater safety and tenant rights for clinicians to discuss with patients. The tips include reminding families that they should never use an oven to heat their home, and that landlords are legally required to provide enough heat in rental buildings. 

Galvez said the study's findings also mean that Black and Latino communities are at higher risk for the negative health effects from fires. 

“Black and Latino communities have higher rates of a range of common health conditions that can be directly linked to their environments, including childhood lead poisoning and asthma," said Galvez, who is also a Mount Sinai Health System pediatrician.

Other environmental burdens include poorly maintained housing, lead paint and pipes, and poorer outdoor air quality due to proximity to major roadways or industries.

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Fire safety tips: Space heaters and keeping warm

The CDC advises:

• Only use electric space heaters with automatic shut-off features.
• Never cover your space heater.
• Keep heating appliances like space heaters at least 3 feet away from flammable material such as drapes, furniture or bedding.
• Keep space heater cords away from areas that can cause a person to trip.
• Never leave children unattended near a space heater.
• Don't use an extension cord to plug in your space heater.

From the Children's Environmental Health Center:

• Keep babies warm by dressing them in a “sleep sack” blankets or footed pajamas. Avoid using loose blankets since they pose a suffocation risk.
• Keep children warm and dry and dress them in hats that cover the ears.
• Know the signs of hypothermia and call 911 if your loved one shows: shallow breathing, confusion, lack of coordination, slurred speech or drowsiness. Shivering may stop if hypothermia gets severe.

Reach Nada Hassanein at nhassanein@usatoday.com or on Twitter @nhassanein_.