In the aftermath of the fire that killed three people in York City on Wednesday, Fire Chief William Sleeger could not stress enough the importance of smoke detectors.
In going through the rubble of the home in the first block of Columbia Avenue following the fire that killed 25-year-old Giavanna Ricobene, 24-year-old Victor Gonzalez and 17-year-old Gabriella Cruz, Sleeger said no smoke detectors were found.
It confirmed what firefighters suspected when they went to fight the blaze.
“We knew there were no working smoke detectors because we had no sounds going off,” Sleeger said.
This was the third fatal fire in York City since last summer. Two people were killed in June in a fire in the 300 block of West North Street. In July, three people, including a 3-year-old girl and 4-year-old boy, died following a house fire in the 500 block of Company Street.