SPRINGFIELD — A local fire chief is stressing the importance of a working smoke detector after a deadly house fire last week in Springfield.
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As reported on News Center 7 at 6:00, the Springfield Fire Department offers free smoke detectors to people who live in the city, and the fire department will also install them.
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Springfield Fire Chief Jacob King told News Center 7’s Taylor Robertson that they team up with the American Red Cross to do this. Nearly every fire department across the country has that available.
As previously reported by News Center 7, an 8-year-old boy died after a house fire in Springfield. King previously said that the home did not have working smoke detectors.
The National Fire Protection Association says that over the years that space heaters and heating stoves were responsible for nearly 50 percent of fires in homes. They add that 46 percent of those fires happen between December and February.
Chief King says that space heaters should be plugged directly into an outlet and three feet away from any items in the room.
Su’Ann Newport told Robertson that she takes fire seriously after a scary experience she had with a house fire.
“Several years ago, my sister’s house burned to the ground, and we saw that happen,” she said. “They happened not to be home, they had fire detectors and all that, but they weren’t at home when the fire happened, so it hits close to home in our family.”
Newport is grateful that her family members were okay. But their dog died in the fire, and they lost special items.
“Our childhood piano was in there,” she told Robertson. “Our baby grand. We all learned to play when we were little.”
This is just one of the reasons that she is strict about making sure that they have working smoke and carbon monoxide detectors.
“When we hear that beeping go off and it’s time to change the batteries, we do it,” said Newport.
Chief King said that being notified by a smoke detector that a fire is in your home helps you alert the fire department sooner than if you wait to start breathing in smoke and see flames.
“Having working smoke detectors in your home will save your life,” he said. “So, if you’re sleeping and there’s a fire that has started, the earliest notification you can find right is a smoke detector to notify you of something that is going on, so that you could be you can evacuate effectively.”
King also told Robertson that he commends that families or anyone who lives in your home, know the plan if a fire happens.
He said that people should know a route to get out of the home safely.
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