Smoke detector with camera can save lives

An early-morning fire on New Year’s Day roared through a house in the Northeast district of Washington D.C., killing an elderly male, two other adults, and two children, and leaving a boy aged 11 in critical condition.

The proximate cause of the fire was probably a “catastrophic electrical failure,” according to fire department officials.

Washington D.C. Mayor Adrian M. Fenty called the tragedy “probably the worst way [to start] a new year.”

The first reports of the fire came shortly after 7 a.m., according to D.C. fire department officials. Fire personnel arrived at the scene within one minute after the first call but found the structure already enveloped in flames and smoke.

There were nine people inside the home when the fire occurred, including the owners Oscar and Michelle Wilson. The fatalities in the fire were their nephew, Joseph Wilson, 10; Mrs. Wilson’s father, Charles Smith, 72; the daughter of Mr. Wilson’s best friends, Tawana Gant, 22, her boyfriend Keith Nelson, 23, and their daughter Kaniya Gant, 5.

Along with the couple, the other survivors were their 11-year-old son, who remains in grave condition, and a 15-year-old family friend who escaped with minor injuries. This was one big extended family which had gathered to celebrate the New Year.

Fire officials said the blaze started with an electrical failure in the wiring located in a gap between the basement ceiling and the ground floor of the bungalow-style, two-story house. The flames spread very rapidly through the structure. Officials will bring in an electrical engineer to help determine why the electrical wiring problem occurred.

The house design, called a balloon frame, is a style popular from the 1930s to the 1950s. This type of construction would no longer be permitted under today’s more stringent safety standards. The design incorporates a space inside the walls which enhances better circulation of heating and cooling. The downside is that it also allows smoke and fire to spread quickly with deadly efficiency.

The firefighters recovered two smoke detectors — both thoroughly charred and melted. There was not clear indication that the devices had functioned properly. The day after the fire, firefighters went around the neighborhood, inspecting and testing smoke detectors installed in the nearby houses and distributing new units to homes without detectors.

Coming just a few hours after the extended family joyously celebrated the New Year increases the pain of the tragedy, said the mayor.

For the whole of 2008, the district lost 7 residents to fire. In the first day of 2009, they had already lost 5 people.

Safety Tip:

* Check your smoke detectors. If you don’t have any installed, make sure to get some.