Smoke alarms save Wasilla couple

WASILLA — Without smoke alarms, things might have turned out differently for a family on Emperor Goose Circle Tuesday.

As it is, the two people who lived there were displaced. Mat-Su Red Cross reports it put the couple up in a hotel and provided clothing and shoes, as well as referrals to local thrift stores.

Michael Keenan with the Central Mat-Su Fire Department said the fire was what responders refer to as a “room and contents” fire. Which is to say that one room and the things inside burned, but the rest of the house was mostly left intact, albeit with smoke and heat damage.

“From what we were told the female occupant was awakened by the smoke detectors and they had pretty heavy smoke in the house and they were able to get out of the house,” he said.

Central Mat-Su staffs a fire station around-the-clock. The duty crew got to the scene in short order and knocked the fire down quickly.

“It was pretty much a textbook operation,” he said.

The state Fire Marshal’s office said that the fire was reported at around 1:30 a.m. and likely started with “two portable electric heaters being used to heat the room where the fire started.” The fire was confined to the first floor of the three-story home. The fire marshal’s office urges proper use of portable heaters — i.e., not using them as a permanent heat source and not using them with extension cords.

“Proper use of portable heaters could have prevented this fire, but having working smoke alarms did save the homeowners’ lives,” according to the press release.

Local fire departments feel strongly enough about smoke alarms that a number of them are willing to come to a person’s home to install detectors for anyone who wants them. The alarms come from a state program and are free to homeowners. Installation is also free and takes very little time and only a couple of screws. Central has begun a public information campaign trying to spread the word about the program, even sending firefighters out to knock on doors.

“There are people out there right now doing door-to-door campaigns,” Tara Mellon said Thursday morning. Mellon is the department’s public education officer and is running the smoke alarm program.

She said most Valley fire departments are on board. Central Mat-Su also can help people get smoke detectors who live outside its service area, either by referring the request to another participating department or by coming out themselves. Palmer, for instance, isn’t participating in the state program but has given Central free reign to install detectors in its service area.

“The point is just that we want everybody to have smoke alarms,” Mellon said.

In Houston, the city’s department is participating. Department spokesman Christian Hartley said it has 300 or so alarms on hand. And nearby Willow Fire Department also has fire alarms to share with homeowners.

“We’ve actually had people from neighboring communities contact us about our smoke alarms and we refer them to their departments first,” Hartley said. If the local department doesn’t have alarms, “we can provide them or we can install them for them.”

Alarms come hard-wired with a battery that’s good for 10 years. After 10 years a homeowner just replaces the whole thing. They have buttons to silence them if smoke from the oven or some other non-emergency source sets them off.

Hartley said there are benefits to the program beyond the free alarms.

“People can have the confidence of knowing that a trained person installed them and that they’re in the right place,” he said.

For more information, contact Houston at 892-6457, Central at 373-8830 and Willow at 495-6728.

Contact Andrew Wellner at andrew.wellner@frontiersman.com or 352-2270.