The State Fire Marshal is stepping up efforts to stress the importance of having working smoke alarms in homes. This comes on the heels of a fatal fire, in Grand Rapids, that claimed the lives of a mother and her 3 sons.
Kevin Sehlmeyer, who is the chief advocate for fire safety in the state, said the deaths of Wanedia Scales and her sons Xavier Woleab, 15, Robert Scales, 14, Elijah Scales, 10, bring the number of fire fatalities in Michigan to 22 this year. "Think about it, that's only 36 days," says Sehlmeyer. "Those are fatal fires across the state since Jan. 1. A lack of working smoke alarms is a common link to almost every one of those deaths."
Sehlmeyer says responding to fatal fires are the worst days of a fire fighter's career.
"That's why this is so important. We want to stress the importance of smoke alarms and escape plans. Working smoke alarms buy time to escape fires and can dramatically increases your family's chances of surviving a fire," he says.