Three young children became motherless this weekend.
Their mother, only 29 years old, died Saturday morning in a fire that destroyed the East Manhattan Ave. home. It was reported in the Toledo Blade that Misty McClung's death was accidental. However, it might have been preventable.
According to the article, the home did not have a working smoke detector. Were there detectors at all? If so, were the batteries dead or missing? I posted an earlier blog about this very subject June 22. The odds of surviving a house fire when there are no working smoke detectors is tragically low.
Those poor children are now homeless and motherless. Misty didn't have a chance against the smoke because it first puts you into a deeper sleep, then suffocates you. It's the smoke that kills sleeping occupants, not the fire.
I've covered enough fires to make me extremely paranoid. I want you to be paranoid, too, especially if you have children, pets, roommates, whatever. Please check your house or apartment for working smoke detectors. Read my earlier blog for more fire safety tips.
If you don't have smoke detectors, buy a couple. They're cheap compared to your life.
This was no accident at all this fire was set on purpose. It is just that the Toledo Polce Dept doesn't want the do the paperwork so they play it off as something it isn't
ReplyDeleteThat's what they were saying at the scene. I hope it isn't true for two reasons: that someone can be so cruel, and that our police department would be that lazy. I think they might be overworked, but not lazy.
ReplyDeleteAt any rate, my safety concern still stands.
On the subject of smoke detectors - you're right on. I just replaced all of the batteries in our whole house - some of them dated 2006/2007 (still good, but don't like unknowns). I do tests frequently, but will change the batteries on a more frequent schedule. I hate reading about these stories and hope to never experience it, regardless of how it starts.
ReplyDelete