New Hampshire recorded 18 fire-related deaths in 2025, a decline from the 24 fatalities the state tallied in 2024, but the toll still left state safety officials frustrated. According to a report originally produced by the Concord Monitor and republished through the Granite State News Collaborative, investigators concluded that a large share of the deaths were preventable, and the missing common denominator was a working smoke alarm.

Of the 14 homes where the 18 fatalities occurred, only four definitely had working smoke alarms at the time of the fire, according to the state’s 2025 fire-related death statistics. Six homes had no smoke alarms at all. In the four remaining residences, investigators could not confirm whether the alarms were operational. That breakdown means that, at most, fewer than a third of the fatal fires last year happened in homes where a working alarm could have given residents a chance to escape.

For Granite State residents, the takeaway is not abstract. The state’s deputy fire marshal said most of the deaths followed a familiar pattern, and the simplest tool to interrupt that pattern is a $20 piece of hardware mounted on the ceiling.

A Sobering Year, But Better Than 2024

The 18-death total represents a meaningful drop from 2024, when New Hampshire saw 24 fire-related fatalities. It is, however, higher than the totals the state recorded earlier in the decade. New Hampshire counted 10 fire-related deaths in 2022 and 12 in 2023, according to the state’s running statistics. The 2025 number, while improved year over year, is closer to the 2024 outlier than to the lower baseline of just two and three years ago.

“It’s frustrating for us that we think some of these deaths could have been prevented if people had just kind of followed our advice in terms of following the code and the behavior,” said Anthony Booth, the state’s deputy state fire marshal, in the Concord Monitor report. “But we’re not going to be able to reach everybody and have everybody do what we say.”

Booth told the Concord Monitor that New Hampshire is still doing proportionally better than most states nationally on fire-death rates, even with this year’s total. That comparison offers cold comfort to families who lost relatives this year, but it does suggest that the state’s mix of building codes, public outreach, and code enforcement is doing some work. The unanswered question is how much further the toll could fall if a few specific behaviors changed.

Working Smoke Alarms Are The Single Biggest Variable

Booth pointed to working smoke alarms as the single most effective tool for reducing fire deaths. The math is straightforward. In a home fire, the difference between escape and death is often measured in seconds, not minutes. A working alarm interrupts that timeline by waking sleeping residents while they still have time to get out.

That matters because state data shows the timing of fatal fires lines up almost perfectly with when residents are asleep. According to the 2025 statistics cited by Booth, 82 percent of fatal fires in New Hampshire last year occurred during sleeping hours, defined as between 6 p.m. and 6 a.m. In other words, more than four out of every five fatal fires happened when residents were most likely to be unaware of the danger and most dependent on an audible alarm.

Smoke alarms have a finite lifespan. Most manufacturers recommend replacing the entire unit every 10 years, not just the batteries. Many homeowners do not realize that the sensor inside the alarm degrades over time even if the unit still beeps when tested. State fire officials urge residents to check installation dates printed on the back of the alarm housing and replace any unit that is approaching or past the decade mark.

For families without the means to purchase alarms, the American Red Cross offers a free installation program. Residents can request a free smoke alarm through the Red Cross website, and volunteers will install it in the home.

Two-Thirds Of Fatalities Were Older Adults

The demographic profile of New Hampshire’s 2025 fire deaths followed another familiar pattern. Two-thirds of those who died last year were older adults between the ages of 60 and 79, according to the state’s data cited by Booth.

That age skew is consistent with national trends. Older adults are at heightened risk for fatal fires for several reasons that compound on one another. Mobility challenges can make rapid escape harder, particularly from second-story bedrooms or homes without clear ground-floor exits. Hearing loss can prevent residents from hearing a standard alarm, which is why low-frequency alarms designed for hard-of-hearing residents are increasingly recommended for older households. Medications that affect alertness or sleep can blunt response time. And older adults are more likely to live alone, meaning there is no one else in the home to alert them or help them out.

The combination of sleeping hours, older age, and missing or non-working smoke alarms forms what amounts to a profile of preventable fire deaths. “If they do wake up, it’s often too late,” Booth said of fatal fires that strike during sleeping hours. “They’ve already inhaled all the toxic gases and carbon monoxide.”

Carbon monoxide and smoke inhalation, not burns, are the most common direct causes of death in residential fires. That is part of why escape time matters so much. By the time a sleeping resident is roused by heat or the sound of structural damage, the breathable air in the home is already compromised.

Going Back In: The Other Avoidable Pattern

Booth highlighted a second behavioral pattern that has shown up repeatedly in fatal fires across New Hampshire: people who escape, then go back in. In two separate incidents in 2025, residents died after re-entering a burning building after initially making it out safely. One case involved a woman in Milton who went back inside to rescue her pets. The details of the other incident were not made public.

“They think they have time,” Booth said. “They think they can get in and out quickly, but they don’t come back out.”

Fire safety educators teach that once a fire has progressed enough to drive residents out, the interior environment is already lethal. Even a brief reentry exposes the person to superheated air, toxic smoke, and rapidly changing conditions that can collapse a ceiling or block an exit in a matter of seconds. The Concord Monitor account did not name the Milton resident, but the incident underscores a recurring tragedy that fire officials see every year.

The Booth interview echoes guidance that fire departments give in every elementary school assembly: once you are out, stay out. Call 9-1-1. Wait for firefighters. Pets, possessions, and even loved ones who may still be inside should be reported to first responders, not retrieved by family members on their own.

What An Escape Plan Looks Like

State fire officials have consistently urged households to develop and practice a written escape plan. The plan should include at least two ways out of every room in the home, a designated meeting place outside, and a clear understanding of who is responsible for helping anyone in the household who cannot evacuate on their own. Practicing the plan, including walking it at night with the lights off to simulate real conditions, is part of what fire educators recommend.

In multi-story homes, escape ladders that can be deployed from a second-floor window are a relatively inexpensive piece of equipment that can dramatically expand a household’s options when a primary exit is blocked.

The same fire-safety principles apply to apartment buildings, where escape plans should incorporate awareness of all stairwells, the location of pull stations, and the building’s fire alarm protocols. Renters often defer to landlords on safety equipment, but tenants can and should test smoke alarms in their unit and notify property managers in writing of any non-working unit.

The Broader Public Safety Picture In New Hampshire

The fire-death statistics arrive at a moment when New Hampshire policymakers are paying particular attention to how the state supports first responders. Earlier this year, the Professional Fire Fighters of New Hampshire endorsed Gov. Kelly Ayotte’s 2026 reelection bid, citing her support for pension benefits and cancer-screening protocols for firefighters, as New Hampshire Review covered in our reporting on the union endorsement. Those policy decisions matter not just for the workforce but for the broader fire-prevention infrastructure that the 2025 statistics rely on.

At the same time, the state has been wrestling with a parallel safety question inside its juvenile detention system. New Hampshire Review previously reported on the state’s investigative panel findings at the Sununu Youth Services Center, where the bureau chief resigned after lawmakers cited what they called an extreme failure of leadership. The fire data and the youth services findings sit in different policy lanes, but both raise the same underlying question about how the state translates available information into preventive action.

Building codes have also been a recurring topic at the State House. New Hampshire Review covered the recent passage of House Bill 1718, which expands net metering to include solar-charged batteries. That bill is a reminder that residential safety, from electrical codes to renewable energy infrastructure, is woven into the same regulatory fabric that includes smoke alarm requirements. The same Department of Energy and Public Utilities Commission that will write the new battery rules also touches the electrical components that produce many residential fires.

What Granite State Residents Can Do Today

The Concord Monitor story closed by directing readers who do not have a working smoke alarm to the American Red Cross, which provides free alarms and installation in eligible homes. The Red Cross application form is available at redcross.org, and the program serves Granite State residents who request a unit.

Beyond the free-alarm program, fire officials urge residents to take three specific steps before the next sleeping cycle: test every existing smoke alarm in the home using the test button, replace batteries in any battery-powered unit on a fixed annual schedule, and confirm the installation date of every alarm to determine whether the unit itself needs replacement.

For households with older relatives, fire educators recommend a separate conversation about escape capability. If a resident has mobility, hearing, or cognitive challenges, the household’s escape plan should account for that, including hardwired interconnected alarms, bedside strobe alerts for hearing-impaired residents, and a designated family member or neighbor who has been briefed on how to assist.

The 2025 data is now in the record. Whether New Hampshire’s 2026 number bends back toward the lower baseline of 2022 and 2023 will depend on choices made one home at a time, between now and the next sleeping hour.

Frequently Asked Questions

How many people died in fires in New Hampshire in 2025?

New Hampshire recorded 18 fire-related deaths in 2025, according to state fire marshal statistics. The deaths occurred in 14 different homes. The 2025 toll was lower than the 24 deaths counted in 2024 but higher than the 10 recorded in 2022 and 12 in 2023.

What percentage of fatal fires happened during sleeping hours?

State data shows that 82 percent of New Hampshire’s fatal fires in 2025 occurred during what fire officials define as sleeping hours, the window between 6 p.m. and 6 a.m. That timing is part of why working smoke alarms are considered the single most effective fire-death prevention tool, because residents who are asleep have no other way to detect a fire in progress.

Who is most at risk of dying in a residential fire in New Hampshire?

Two-thirds of New Hampshire’s 2025 fire deaths were older adults between the ages of 60 and 79. Older adults face a combination of risk factors, including reduced mobility, possible hearing loss, medications that affect alertness, and a higher likelihood of living alone. Fire educators recommend that households with older residents use interconnected hardwired alarms and consider low-frequency or strobe alerts.

How can I get a free smoke alarm in New Hampshire?

The American Red Cross provides free smoke alarms and installation through its national home fire campaign. Granite State residents can request a free alarm by visiting redcross.org. State fire officials recommend that every home have a working smoke alarm on every level and inside every sleeping area.

What did the state fire marshal say about people going back into burning buildings?

Deputy State Fire Marshal Anthony Booth said two separate fatal incidents in 2025 involved residents who escaped a burning home and then went back inside. One case involved a Milton woman who reentered her home to rescue pets. Booth said residents often believe they have more time than they do, but the interior of a burning building becomes lethal within seconds. The safety guidance is unambiguous: once out, stay out and call 9-1-1.

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