WEST VIRGINIA FIRE DEATHS UP IN 2007
More people died in fires in West Virginia last fiscal year than ever before and this year is already off to a bad start.
A record 79 people died in fires between July 1, 2006, and June 30, assistant State Fire Marshal Reed Cook said. That total includes nine people who died in an apartment building fire in Huntington, four who died in a propane gas explosion at a convenience store in Ghent and five family members who died in a Falling Waters mobile home fire sparked by a kerosene heater.
Normally the state averages between 30 and 45 fire-related deaths per year. Cook couldn't remember when the previous annual record of 78 deaths was set but said it's been more than a decade.
S.C. Senate leader seeks insurance department audit
A South Carolina Senate leader has asked the Legislative Audit Council to review practices at the state insurance department that may have let insurance companies raise rates without adequate oversight.
Senate President Pro Tem Glenn McConnell, R-Charleston, asked the state watchdog group to review eight areas involving the agency. These include whether the agency is using accurate information and accounting for insurers' investment income properly.
McConnell also wants to know whether rates for hurricane-related insurance are accurately calculated.
