LAWRENCE COUNTY, Ohio (WSAZ) -- If you factor in the number of fire deaths in relation to the number of people who live there, Lawrence County is the deadliest place in Ohio to live.

"You've got people that can't afford to heat their homes in a safe manner," said Chesapeake Assistant Fire Chief Ed Webb.

That was the story recently for 38-year old Michelle Bradshaw. She lost her life in her home in Burlington after clothing was placed too close to a portable electric heater.

Just three weeks prior, another fire caused by a space heater took the lives of a whole family in Pedro. Five people died and seven people were injured in the fire.

These are the human stories behind the statistics which makes Lawrence County the deadliest in the state when it comes to fire. Still, Webb says people shouldn't be worried. He calls the statistic "blown out of proportion".

"When you have one fire with five fatalities it's not the same as having eight to ten structure fires with no injuries or fatalities," he said.

Webb says the fact that the deadly fires all happened in Lawrence County is "100 percent coincidence".

Snow and frigid temperatures are signs that everyone needs to be more safety-minded and hopefully avoid the deadly mistake of not having smoke detectors.

"If you want to give somebody a good Christmas gift...it might not look like much but a $5 or $6 dollar Christmas gift can save their life and it will last a whole year," said Webb.

Investigators say they never found a working smoke detector at any of the county's 10 fatal fires that date back to February 2008. Those fires killed a total of 15 people.