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Smoke alarms were disabled
Smoke alarms save lives. The scene at Sunday’s fatal fire at the Pebble Beach Apartments. The Daily Triplicate/Bryant Anderson “Smoke alarms are so critical in saving lives,” said Calfire Battalion Chief Jim Smith. “Checking your smoke alarm is the most important thing you can do to protect your family from fire.” Investigators of the fire at the Pebble Beach Apartments at 8th and C streets found that the smoke alarms in the residence had been disabled, despite a form signed when Victoria Di Silvestro moved in that stated the alarms were present and active. The fire started in a heating mat on a couch in the lower level of the two-story apartment. Di Silvestro and her son, Anthony, were found upstairs. Firefighters said she died shielding Anthony, who is now being treated at a Portland hospital. “If she had not disabled the smoke alarms, she could be alive today,” said Smith. “Firefighters would have arrived on scene much earlier, and the couch would have been put out and removed.” The first fire did not involve any injuries, thanks to 7-year-old Sarah Cheesman seeing smoke after waking up to let a cat out. However, the family did lose its house and belongings. “This is why you really need to check smoke alarms,” volunteer firefighter Eric Wier said after that fire at 135 3rd St. Amy Cheesman, Sarah’s mother, said that she hadn’t replaced the batteries in their smoke alarms recently. After Sunday’s fatal blaze, “I found that there were smoke alarms, but they seemed to be disconnected.” Smith said. “The apartment next door had smoke alarms, but the batteries had been removed. People need to know that smoke alarms are very important. At my house, when we’re cooking and alarms go off, we consider it a successful test, not a reason to remove them.” Crescent City Fire Chief Steve Wakefield agreed. “Smoke alarms without question save thousands of lives every year,” Wakefield said. “It’s the single most important thing to protect yourself and family.” Wakefield said that smoke alarms give early notice that not only provides a chance to escape, but also catches a fire in its early stage. “We’ve had numerous fires over the years where smoke detectors saved lives,” Wakefield said. “It even allows enough time — because at the incipient stage a fire is mainly smoke — that residents can actually have a chance to put the fire out themselves. Smoke alarms are an early-as-possible notification that something is wrong.” |
