MILWAUKEE — Home fire deaths were high in Wisconsin to start off 2023.

Data from the U.S. Fire Administration shows that in January 2023, there were 266 home fire deaths nationwide in just one month. Seven of those were in Wisconsin.

As of Feb. 1, Wisconsin was tied for 10th in the nation for the most home fire deaths so far this year, according to the data from the U.S. Fire Administration.

It’s one of the many reasons why firefighters continue to train and educate their communities. It’s also a key part of being a first responder.

A group of cadets with the Milwaukee Fire Department recently suited up to practice their search and rescue training. It involved locating a dummy placed in the fire training tower at the training academy in Milwaukee.

(Spectrum News 1/Megan Marshall)

“Here in Milwaukee we are stressing that we keep training and making sure we are identifying problems in homes that we go to,” Milwaukee Fire Department Capt. Lorenzo Williams said.

For Williams, education and prevention are key to saving lives.

“We stress that everyone should have an exit plan and have a meeting spot once they get out there and have a meeting spot instead of going back inside,” Williams said.

However, prevention doesn’t always work. That’s why firefighters train religiously to help save lives in dangerous situations.

On that particular training day, the team of cadets worked hard to navigate the smoke and darkness to locate the dummy. Once they found it, they had to drag the dummy out and treat it as a real-life scenario of saving someone’s life.

“Life safety is our number one goal when we are out at those fires. That’s our number one goal to get in there, to get that life, to try and save that life,” Williams said.

Training isn’t just for the cadets, though. Williams said all departments with Milwaukee Fire train weekly and monthly to stay on top of their lifesaving skills.

(Spectrum News 1/Megan Marshall)

Smoke detectors also play a huge role in saving lives when it comes to home fires. For many, it’s what alerts them before they even know a fire is there.

“It’s going to save your life and I think it’s important that it can alert you well in advance so that you can get out of your house and execute your exit plan,” Williams said.

The Milwaukee Fire Department has a team that will hand out and install smoke detectors for free in your home. For more information, call the Smoke Detector Hotline at 414-286-8980.