My neighbor and her daughter are dead for lack of batteries in smoke detectors

[ehrnst]

At 4:30 on Tuesday morning, we awoke to sirens up the block. We found out later the horrific story of the neighbors whose house caught fire. The father, 11 year old daughter and the mother got out, but the mother went back in to get the 7 year old.

The mother and 7 year old never made it back out. The neighbors awoke to their screams.

The fire department determined that the smoke detectors did not work due to lack of batteries.

My son knew the daughter, as did other neighborhood kids. He's been hugging me a lot, and asking about our smoke detector.

Please, please, please - check your smoke detectors. I can't imagine what the father is going through and will go through thinking about how this could have been prevented.

http://www.wjla.com/articles/2014/11/2-killed-in-house-fire-in-arlington-108720.html

[NYC_SKP]

1. I lost my girlfriend that way in 1983. Check them once a month.

Sad for her and the whole family and me. I'm dear friends with that family to this day.



First, familiarize yourself and household members with how to check them.

Then, make it a ritual tied to some other monthly chore, like paying rent.

[ehrnst]

6. I'm sorry for your loss. It's so hard when you think how it could have been prevented. (nt)

[Brother Buzz]

2. In my world, smoke detectors are checked every time when we change the clocks

Twice a year, like clockwork

[ehrnst]

4. We changed ours on Sunday. Everyone here in the neighborhood

will be doing the same from here on out.

Got a message from the mom's sister on their gofund page:

We are at the hospital now with Sarah. She has just had her bandages changed. They have to sedate her in order to change her bandages. Thankfully today she will be moved out of intensive care unit to a regular room. She will still have to stay in the hospital a couple of days. Her arms are wrapped fron her shoulders to her fingers. She is being very brave. We are working on their living arrangements. Again thank you so much for everything.

[FSogol]

3. We got in the habit of changing the batteries every time Daylight Savings starts or stops.

Twice a year is sufficient.

Sorry for your loss and thanks for the reminder.

[Hari Seldon]

5. Lost everything (almost) for the same reason last year

We weren't all this lucky, but me and Jasmine survived...

[ehrnst]

7. I'm glad you're safe. We've seen the family cat Sally around

and are trying to catch her.

[mnhtnbb]

25. We put our cats out every night. Took 2 days for the cats to return

but they did come back and we got both of them.

Our dog came out with us the morning of our fire.

[renate]

36. I'm so sorry

Your words "we weren't all this lucky" worry me....

[JaneyVee]

38. I'm glad you're okay. Sorry for your loss. **hugs**

[ehrnst]

8. The younger girl had a birthday last month. My heart is still breaking for her and my son. (nt)

[Dont call me Shirley]

9. That is so sad. 9V batteries are expensive, most smoke detectors require them.

Smoke detector batteries should be super cheap or free.

[lpbk2713]

22. Walgreen's store brand alkaline batts hold up pretty good.

I stock up when they are BOGO.

[JEFF9K]

10. Why smoke-detector batteries aren't changed:

Why batteries aren't changed:

* The nine-volt batteries are expensive and harder to find.

* The smoke detectors are often placed on the ceiling, making it a hassle to change batteries.

* False alarms happen at inopportune times, causing people to disable the detectors.

If manufacturers deal with these problems there would be fewer fire-related deaths.

[Skittles]

11. they're not easy to change

I get vertigo trying to fiddle with them - they don't just snap in.....and why are 9V only sold in packs of two?

[Spitfire of ATJ]

21. "....why are 9V only sold in packs of two?"

So you can stick the other in one of these:

[Skittles]

41. HAR!

OMG

[snooper2]

13. Really? 9volts are in every gas station in the country, oh -

and-

smoke rises LOL...putting them on the floor wouldn't do a lot of good. That is where you are supposed to crawl to stay OUT of the smoke.

[JEFF9K]

46. I put mine on top of the bookcase.

It's high, but reachable without a mini-ladder.

[H. Cromwell]

52. Since smoke

rises...mounting it on the ceiling is not required. A book case close to the ceiling is an alternative.
Having a smoke detector on each floor of your home, near stairwells, bedrooms, and exits is a good idea.

[H. Cromwell]

23. Blame the manufacturers ???

* The nine-volt batteries are expensive and harder to find.

Most any drug store, department store, big box store sells them for around $5 per pair.

* The smoke detectors are often placed on the ceiling, making it a hassle to change batteries.
Calling it a hassle to spend less than a pack of cigarettes for a battery to put into a smoke detector that is almost guaranteed to save your life if there is a fire because it takes 15 minutes or so to stand on a chair to do the change twice a year is ridiculous.

NOTE: If you call your local fire department (professional or volunteer) they will GLADLY change your detectors batteries for free.

* False alarms happen at inopportune times, causing people to disable the detectors.
Most of the false alarms are from the kitchen detector...relocating that detector usually corrects the problem.

If manufacturers deal with these problems there would be fewer fire-related deaths.
Manufacturers do now have smoke detectors with lifetime batteries and detectors specially made for kitchen use.
Try putting the "blame" for non working smoke detectors where it belongs; on the home owner/renter. Anyone who lets batteries die or disables a smoke detector for false alarms and has children living in the home bears the responsibility for their death if there is a fire.

As a 25 plus year volunteer firefighter, I have seen it happen and seen the grief it causes.

[Skittles]

42. for the cooking alarms

my big standup fan thwarts them in my tiny apartment

[Spitfire of ATJ]

43. If you rent it's the responsibility of the landlord to see to it the smoke detectors are working.

[H. Cromwell]

49. IF the landlord

does not replace a battery...you are fine with a non working smoke detector?
Considering that it is in Your best interest if a smoke detector is working; Holding a landlord responsible for a $5 battery if you die in a fire is a moot point.

[Spitfire of ATJ]

53. Knock the cost of the battery off the rent.

[JEFF9K]

47. You sound like a Republican.

Ignoring the logic that the easier it is to do something, the likelier it is to be done.

[H. Cromwell]

51. IF common sense

makes me a Republican, so be it.

[ecstatic]

59. I also blame the manufacturers

Detectors should require as little human intervention as possible. All AC powered with a very long term (rechargeable battery backup). In addition to the issues the other person mentioned, people with anxiety might procrastinate when it comes to changing the batteries because acknowledging that a fire could happen is too stressful.

[Rosa Luxemburg]

27. The fire department here fits smoke detectors free

[GGJohn]

12. Our detectors are hardwired into the house electrical

with battery backup which are checked every 3 months.

[snooper2]

14. Mine are too...it is usually code now in a lot of cities

FYI-

One of ours was beeping last week that the battery was dead. If you take the battery out, it stops beeping

This reminds me I need to go out and grab a couple packs of those "hard to find" 9 volts

[GGJohn]

16. I don't know why they're "hard to find",

I can go down to my local grocery store, hardware store, Walmart and there are oodles of them, in single or double packs, single pack is about 3.99, double pack about 6.99.

[ehrnst]

15. During our remodel, we did this, bringing them up to code.

The neighborhood homes were all built in the early '40s, to house Pentagon employees. They are some of the last affordable homes in the area.

The fire department has been flyering the neighborhood to make sure that everyone has working smoke detectors.

[Raine1967]

17. OMG, ehrnst. I'm so sorry.

This was very close to my area. I have friends in that neighborhood. I Am terribly terribly sorry about this.



ETA: two years ago we had a serious uptick in carbon monoxide calls to our local fire department. The fire department, in conjunction with the federal funds came around and gave everyone Smoke/carbon monoxide detectors. They came thru ash checked everyone's homes to see if we had them. At the time we only had one. They gave up two more so we would have one on each floor of out home.

They save lives.

[blkmusclmachine]

18. So sad.

[Spitfire of ATJ]

19. Ours is linked to our monitored alarm system.

[bigwillq]

20. How sad.

And good advice.



Sorry about your friends.

[mnhtnbb]

24. I am so sorry to hear this. The smoke detector woke my son when our house

caught fire--also at 4:30 am on a Tuesday morning--7 years ago. We all got out.

It can be very traumatic for kids. Our neighbor's daughter would wake, screaming,
for several months after our fire. She was about 11 when it happened.

[Rosa Luxemburg]

29. I'm glad you all got out!

[mnhtnbb]

31. It was an inferno in a matter of minutes. We were very lucky.

[Spitfire of ATJ]

44. People don't realize that once a room hits a certain temp it expands to take out the whole building.

[jwirr]

26. Very sad.

[Ineeda]

28. How terrible.

At the link it says that smoke detectors are available FREE from local fire departments. Maybe batteries are too.

[Erich Bloodaxe BSN]

30. We need to find a different kind.

We have the generic round ones that take, yes, the 9 volt batteries. But...if we put batteries in them, one of the dogs totally freaks out and starts trembling until we take em out again. So they've got to be putting out some weird noise that humans can't hear that he absolutely cannot handle.

[Rosa Luxemburg]

32. The smoke detector in the bassement warned us

Our old furnace started to give off a lot of black smoke which set it off at midnight.

Now we have a new furnace and smoke detector in all rooms, hallways and a central fire system. I wish I could afford a sprinkler system.

[A Little Weird]

33. That's awful!

I'm so sorry - for you, the family, and for your whole neighborhood. I can't imagine how hard that is for a kid to lose a friend that way.

I'm ashamed to say that I don't even remember the last time I checked mine but I'm going to go take care of it right now.

[johnp3907]

34. There was a horrible fire in the Pittsburgh area recently.

Looks like the landlord didn't install smoke alarms. Six dead.

http://www.post-gazette.com/local/south/2014/11/05/Allegheny-County-DA-investigate-cigarette-cause-of-fatal-McKeesport-fire/stories/201411050244

[Nye Bevan]

40. I hope he goes to prison for a long time.

What he did was at least as bad as killing someone while driving drunk. Reckless homicide.

[Louisiana1976]

35. I live in an apartment building where maintenance checks the smoke and carbon monoxide

detector twice a year.

[Lebam in LA]

37. If I don't change the batteries the darn thing

beeps all night long.

[Nye Bevan]

39. I was just about to make a post regarding this.

I don't know if all smoke detectors have this safety feature, but they should.

[laundry_queen]

45. I had one once

That was chirping for awhile. I had just forgotten to replace the batteries and didn't have any 9V and of course, every time I went shopping and remembered to look, they were sold out (totally an issue when you live in a remote small town OR some smoke detectors will only accept certain brands...no cheap 9V would work in this one, it chirped anyway). Anyhow, I thought I'd take the battery out to stop the chirping (It's okay, I'm very paranoid and I have 3-4 smoke alarms on every floor including some hardwired in, so this 1 wasn't going to make a huge difference). It still chirped for 12 hours AFTER I took the battery out! It reminded me of that Friends episode with Phoebe and her smoke detector, LOL.

I bought all new detectors last year, as well as having some hardwired in, and having some installed by my alarm company. I think I'm covered but I still need reminders to change the batteries. I'll do that this weekend for sure.

[Phentex]

56. I find them to only chirp at night...

say 2 or 3 in the morning.

[ecstatic]

58. Mine too, also there's something on my wall (not the ceiling)

I don't know what it is. But sometimes it makes an annoying beeping sound. When I open it, I don't see any batteries or anything. But when I put the face plate back on, it usually stops. I think it's tied to my security system but I can't find any documentation anywhere about it.

[ConnorMarc]

48. Absolutely Horrible!

Accept my sincerest condolences.

[fizzgig]

50. how horrible

i am so very sorry to hear about this. peace and light to all those affected

[Odin2005]

54. OMG! (((vibes)))) to the family.

[progressoid]

55. ...

[ehrnst]

57. The surviving daughter is healing slowly