No smoke detectors!! Ten Philadelphia residents have died in fires since Saturday, raising the total number of fire fatalities for the year to 19. Fire officials say there is a common element to every fatal fire this year: no working smoke detectors in the home.
Here's a list of the fatal fires in the city since Saturday :
Wednesday : Three people - two young children and their great-grandmother - perished in a rowhouse blaze in the 100 block of N. 57th St. in West Philadelphia.Fire officials said they found no working smoke detectors working in the home.
Monday : Shirley Parks, a 73-year-old woman, died in a predawn fire at a rowhouse in the 1900 block of Ingersoll Street in North Philadelphia. Three other people were injured. Firefighters found a smoke detector in the house but it lacked a battery.
Sunday : A fire in the 5900 block of Walnut Street in West Philadelphia killed Cornellry Robinson, 25, and her four children in their ramshackle two-story rowhouse.The home had no smoke detectors. Fire officials described the house as a maze of space heaters and multiple outlet strips.
Saturday : An early morning fire killed a 20-year-old woman in an end-unit rowhouse in the 1200 block of Latona Street in South Philadelphia. Officials said the woman was trying to extinguish a mattress fire when she succumbed to the smoke. The cause of the fire was careless use of an open flame, fire officials said. The house had no working fire alarms.
Fatal fires aren’t just in the news, it can happen in East Whiteland too, if you aren’t careful! Install and check smoke alarms in your home...and save a life!! For assistance, call the firehouse at 610-644-8558.

During the winter months it is very important to remember if you use space heaters in your homes, they must be given just that...space! Keep atleast three feet between your heater and your furniture, your walls, your curtains....absolutely anything else that will burn in your homes. Many fires have started by improperly placed space heaters. A good way to measure is to make sure you are able to walk all the way around the heater without striking anything else. Help all of us stay safe throughout the winter!!

For more Fire Safety information or to arrange a program for your family or organization, please call the firehouse at 610-644-8558 and leave a message for the fire prevention coordinator. We would be glad to help you learn more about fire safety!