Lynn Meersman, Vice President of Estimating here at Aldridge, tells her story about how she almost lost her brother as a child, due to fire alarms not in close enough proximity to his crib. She discusses the importance of learning how to use a fire extinguisher, having an escape plan for your family, and changing out your fire alarm batteries annually as a safety precaution.
When I was 11 years old, much of my family home was destroyed in a fire. It’s a memory that sticks with me to this day and serves as a reminder about fire safety.
It was a Friday evening and I was home with my mother, one of my sisters, and my younger brother Mark who was turning 2 in just a few short months. From the back bedroom I heard him start to cry, but I was in the kitchen with my mother and sister and didn’t think much of it. It wasn’t until a few minutes later, when he wouldn’t stop crying, that I begrudgingly walked down the hall to see what was wrong. To my horror, I found the twin bed he was sitting on fully engulfed in flames. There was little Mark, immobilized with fear and surrounded by fire. I immediately screamed for my mother and reached through the flames to grab him.
I ran down the hall with him in my arms and passed him off to my sister, demanding they get out of the house immediately. Without much thought, my mother and I ran into the bathroom and started filling a bucket with water thinking that we could extinguish the flames ourselves. Five seconds later the smoke detector in the hallway started screeching. I am still reminded of that noise, that sound, and the location of the smoke detector today. As black smoke started billowing out of the bedroom we abandoned our futile attempt to extinguish the fire and ran for our lives.
I am here to report that thankfully no one was hurt that day, no loss of life, just the loss of a home that could certainly be rebuilt. We were lucky, REALLY LUCKY.
I am here to say it was that day that made me realize, as an adult, that our family smoke detectors were clearly in the wrong place. In the 1970s, smoke detectors were required and we had working detectors throughout the house. However, they were in the wrong place. If a smoke detector had been installed in the bedroom, it would have saved valuable time, and would have triggered an immediate response to my brother’s crying. We would have been able to call 911 and there would have been more time to save our house from its inevitable fate.
Please, please, please take a walk around your home and note where your smoke detectors and carbon monoxide detectors are located.
Do you have smoke detectors in every bedroom? In the hallways? On every floor? In areas that might be cut off from the rest of the house?
Do you have an escape plan and meeting location? Take this time to check your home and make sure you and your family will be alerted immediately in the event of a fire.
I don’t want anyone to go through a fire and experience anything like this. EVER. The memory of it will never go away. Keep your family safe and install smoke and carbon monoxide detectors throughout your home.
