Tragedies Show Need For Working Smoke Detectors

Thursday’s fire in the Spokane Valley brought to five the number of children who have died in house fires in the area in less than a week.

Four young brothers died on the North Side early Saturday while their parents, Rob and Jill Schliebe, tried to save them.

Bradley Wilson, 4, died Thursday while his mother tried to rescue him from their smoke-filled trailer home.

Both families had smoke detectors. But they weren’t working in the home where the four boys died, and investigators don’t know if the trailer’s detector was functional.

Both fires occurred while the families were sleeping, and the causes are under investigation.

“The community may want to hug its kids a little more after this,” said Carrye Brown, a federal fire prevention expert. “But we hope people will learn from this and start preventing tragedies.”

Brown said she heard about Spokane’s second fatal fire Thursday while working at her Washington, D.C., office and immediately suspected the victims hadn’t been alerted about the fire soon enough.

She launched into a well-rehearsed speech about the importance of having working smoke detectors. Having a few extra minutes to get out of the house saves lives, she said.

“No matter how long you’ve lived in your house, smoke can disorient you, slow you down and kill you,” Brown said. “When you wake up to that, it’s overpowering.”

Smoke isn’t clear, light or white like people see on television, she said.

“It’s caustic, it’s thick, it’s black, it’s extremely hot,” Brown said. “You can’t see through it. It has gases that refuse to let your body function properly.”

Functioning smoke detectors more than double the chance of surviving a fire. Brown suggests rehearsing an escape plan with family members and making sure they know to leave immediately if they hear an alarm.

“We can replace a teddy bear, and we can even replace a favorite pet if we have to. But we cannot replace our children, our loved ones. Make sure they know to get low and go.”

There always are problems with heaters, wood stoves and fireplaces during winter’s first cold snap, said Assistant Chief Dave Lobdell of the Spokane Valley Fire District.

Residents often try to compensate for inadequate heating systems by plugging in auxiliary heaters that overtax the system and cause electrical fires. Better ways to retain heat include proper caulking, insulation and plastic sheeting over storm windows, he said.

Many fires also occur in winter months because people start using wood stoves and fireplaces without cleaning the chimneys, which could spark chimney fires.

, DataTimes MEMO: This sidebar appeared with the story: FREE DETECTORS Several area fire agencies have free smoke detectors available for a limited number of low-income families. Residents of the following areas can call for more information about receiving a free smoke detector or donating smoke detectors: Valley Fire District - 928-2462 Fire District 9 - 466-4602 Spokane Fire Department - 625-7000

The following fields overflowed: BYLINE = Bonnie Harris Staff writer Staff writer Alison Boggs contributed to this report.