Honolulu saw a total of 74 civilian and fire department personnel injuries last year — a 37 percent jump over the 54 injuries in 2005, according to data compiled by the Honolulu Fire Department.

In addition to the injuries, two Honolulu residents died last year, versus 12 residents in 2005.

At the same time HFD responded to 15,076 calls for fires in 2006 — a 42 percent increase compared with 10,570 alarm calls covered in 2005.

In terms of dollar amounts, fires on O'ahu caused $21.3 million in damage in 2006 — up 49 percent from the $14.3 million in fire damage in 2005.

The increases prompted officials to urge local households to develop an emergency home escape plan to stand a better change of surviving a fire.

"The theme of Fire Prevention Week is 'Practice Your Escape Plan,' " Honolulu Fire Chief Kenneth Silva said at a news conference yesterday. "This year's theme is important because it is not enough to have a home fire escape plan. To escape safely, you have to make sure that everyone in the home has practiced the plan."

Following the meeting Silva said that while the statistical increases mentioned were dramatic, it's important to keep in mind that year-to-year comparisons can be misleading.

"When you go from a year to a year, you don't get a true picture," he said. "You have to look at either a three- or a five-year period" to get a better comparison.

For example, HFD spokesman Terry Seelig said the University of Hawai'i Lab School fire in June 2006 cost around $7.5 million — an amount that constitutes the total increase over the previous year's $14 million fire-related damage total.

With fewer than three months left in 2007, the total dollar damage so far comes to only $6.2 million (although Seelig pointed out that annual fire statistic totals are calculated on the fiscal year, from July 1 to June 30).

And while the number of people injured increased between 2005 and 2006, the number of persons killed went down. The two fire-related deaths last year were far fewer than the 12 such deaths on O'ahu in 2005.

"That year we had a severe increase in the number of deaths because we had that fire accident on the freeway in which I think 4 or 5 people were killed," said Silva. "And then we lost a couple of families because of fires in the home."

In fact, the average number of people killed on O'ahu in fire-related incidents in the 10-year period between 1997 and 2006 comes to fewer than 5 people a year on O'ahu — and that includes two years, 1998 and 2005, in which a dozen people were killed in fires.

Still, last year's $21.3 million fire damage price tag represents a 10-year high.

And the 2005 $14.3 million total was $2 million more than the average annual fire damage amount dating back to 1997. The figures serve to illustrate the importance of fire safety, said Silva.

At the news conference, Lt. Gov. James "Duke" Aiona proclaimed Oct. 7-13 Fire Prevention Week in Hawai'i.

The message from Aiona and Hawai'i's four county fire chiefs was that families that develop an emergency home-escape plan stand a better change of surviving a fire.

Or, as Aiona told the crowd, "Fire is the most common disaster that threatens Hawai'i's residents each year."

Reach Will Hoover at whoover@honoluluadvertiser.com.