(CBS DETROIT) – Firefighters in Lapeer have a message for residents: never turn off your smoke detector.
The warning comes after a A fire broke out in an apartment complex on Village West Drive five days ago.
In the aftermath of the Jan. 2 fire, investigators discovered that smoke detectors had been removed from their mounts and batteries had been removed from the ground-floor apartment where the fire started.
The fire spread to the hallway and an apartment on the second floor.
“If your smoke detector goes off, it goes off relatively early in the fire incident. This allows you to go outside as early as possible because this smoke detector, which has multiple smoke detectors working, was not working properly; this resident was only warned because she was awakened by the smoke and coughing.” , Lapeer Fire Chief Mike Vogt said.
Fortunately, no one was seriously injured. Two elderly people living in the ward were taken to hospital for smoke inhalation and minor burns.
The cause of the fire in the apartment complex is still under investigation.
“If that smoke alarm had gone off sooner, we can say with certainty that they would have had more time to get out,” Vogt said. “We would have been notified sooner if we could have gotten there, and hopefully we could have stopped the spread.”
The Lapeer Fire Department has a free smoke detector program. The smoke detectors have a lithium battery with a lifespan of 10 years on the back.
“We come to your home or your apartment, we install alarms by code, which is an alarm in every sleeping area and every floor of your home. And then we also discuss escape planning and life safety planning,” said Vogt.
“We can’t stop someone from taking it off the ceiling or the wall, but they can’t take the battery out. So even if the smoke detector is removed, it’s on a countertop or on a table like this. It’s true that the alarm will not sound as quickly, but it will still function once the smoke reaches the alarm.”
Anyone interested in having a free smoke detector installed in your home can contact the Lapeer Fire Department at 810-664-0833 or email lapeerfd@ci.lapeer.mi.us.
