Lubbock’s Shocking Ranking: Top 10 for Housefire Risk

Lubbock, Texas may want to a look a little closer at fire safety.

The Risk

I had no idea that Lubbock, Texas was a, pardon the term, hotspot for potential housefires. This is certainly a top 10 list that we do not want to be on, but the background research shows that it's a pretty accurate ranking. You might want to check into some of the things discussed here when making your own home safe.

The Survey

A handyman/handywoman website called "Home Gnome" that connects homeowners with people who can help them commissioned the study, and the results are eye opening. The cities were ranked on fire risk, fire prevention and protection services, fire response and recovery, house characteristics, and demographic vulnerability. In short, this is a pretty deep survey.

It's Bad

This is not one of those instances where things are not as bad as they seem, they are in fact a little worse. In the main category "fire risk", Lubbock comes in at #3. Lubbock performed badly in every area, with a #26 ranking for fire prevention and protection being the only highlight for the Hub City.

It Doesn't Seem That Way

I find all of this very odd and surprising. I've had many thoughts about how Lubbock could improve many things, but this whole "housefire risk" thing is new to me. It certainly seems like most of the homes are newish and that we get good response time from our fire prevention crews. Even with that, facts are facts, and apparently we have a lot of room to improve.