BOSTON, Jan. 15 (UPI) -- Fire officials in Boston said their town had the lowest number of fire deaths for large U.S. cities in 2012 for the second year in a row.
Fire Department spokesman Steve MacDonald told the Boston Globe only one person died in a Boston fire in 2012, following a single fire death in 2011.
"For a city our size, with the fire load we have of 4,061 fires in 2012 ... this is a good achievement," MacDonald said.
He attributed Boston's low fire fatality rate in part to the city's commitment to fully staffing the fire department.
Some 50 new recruits are set to join the Boston Fire Department next month, MacDonald said.
Fire officials provided fire-death figures for cities of similar size to Boston. Philadelphia had 25 fire-related deaths in 2012, Baltimore had 12, Milwaukee had eight, Washington had seven and Phoenix had six.
