House Fire in Louisville Kills Residents: Smoke Detector Removed Putting Occupants at Risk
According to news reports, the house fire that killed several people in Louisville may have been preventable. Someone apparently removed the smoke detector and it wasn't replaced. Bahe Cook Cantley & Jones wrongful death attorney Larry Jones says, "This is a very clear instance of negligence that has resulted in the death of several people. Please use this incident as a reminder to check your smoke detectors."
For more information about the rights of those injured or killed in house fires, visit http://www.kentuckyinjurylaw.com/
Here is the latest from WHAS:
(WHAS11) - Firefighters are still investigating what caused a fire in Germantown Saturday.
But they are saying that a missing smoke detector may have prevented it all.
This isn't the first time firefighters have been at 1249 South Clay Street.
When firefighters arrived there just before 2:00 a.m. on Saturday morning, they realized they had been to this same house just last June.
"The first unit that arrived here…they are the ones who installed a smoke detector here, just last year," said Sgt. Salvador Melendez, Louisville Fire and Rescue.
That smoke detector was installed in the home's first floor with a 10-year lithium battery as part of the department's Fire Prevention and Awareness Program. They travel to homes to ask if they have a smoke detector and properly install one if it's needed. But that smoke detector is nowhere to be found in this gutted house.
Watch this story
"Even if they happen to catch fire, we're able to tell that there was one, #1. And #2, whether it was or was not working. There is no trace of that smoke detector. It appears that somebody removed it," said Melendez.
Right now, they know the fire began somewhere on the first floor, that's where 9 people inside the house were sleeping in 2 bedrooms.
Fire fighters say they arrived on the scene just 3 minutes after the call came in from neighbors who saw the flames shooting through the roof. But they say there is no way to know just how long the people inside had been breathing in the smoke.
A second smoke detector, on the second floor, had not been removed.
But no one was on the second floor and the fire wasn't nearly as bad there.
"Smoke detectors, they can save your life," said Sgt. Melendez.
Firefighters are hoping in this case they had.
The latest on the children still in the hospital is that we're told a 7-year-old and a 9-month-old remain in critical condition. A 5-year-old is listed in serious, but stable, condition.
