Listen.

[Siofra Da`Halbria]

Normally I don't get preachy about anything, but tonight I am. Check all the smoke detectors in your house, and install some more if you need to. It could mean you life.

This morning two children were burned alive in their home. I knew these children. Lexis was only 4 years old, and a complete angel. Her brother Brandon was only 3, and also a very good child. Their mobile home had no smoke detectors installed. The mother's grandfather was going to install some in a few days, but it was too late for the kids.

Check your smoke detectors RIGHT NOW. I can't stress this enough. If you want to read the articles, go to www.sacbee.com and register. It's front page news. You can also go to my live journal http://littlevixen0.livejournal.com/ . The last two posts are the article as it was updated. The most recent one has the the latest developments.

But do it RIGHT NOW. I mean it. It could mean the lives of yourself, your children, your siblings, and many other people. I am going to try to make an announcement about it in school tomorrow.  

[Shadow Chyld]

Oh my gods, that's awful! My heart goes out to the families of those children crying
I'd check my detectors, but I'm in a dorm and can't check them myself. And my dad burns food often enough for us to know our detectors at home are working rolleyes  

[Nihilistic Seraph]

Ours are fine at home. Actually, you take a hot shower for long enough, and the smoke deterctor will go off.  

[The Bookwyrm]

Siofra, my heart goes out to both you and the family of those two children; the loss of someone you know is hard enough some days, but it's even worse when they're so young. It's even worse when it's something that could have been prevented with something as simple and inexpensive as a smoke detector.

I remember just before Christmas my uncle responded to a mobile home fire; they suspected that the two occupants had died, and they were serching the mobile home. My uncle was crawling along out in the kitchen, and he said it felt like he was crawling on foam. He looked down to realize he was crawling on two dead bodies. I'll spare you the gore, but say that he was terribly shaken by the ordeal; there had been one survivor of the fire, the woman's nephew, but he was cut badly after going through a window the escape. He spent his holidays with no family.

The smoke detectors work very well in my home, and in my parents' home, but somedays that's still not enough to feel safe. I have people who live below me (my house is rented out by floor to students), and I have no idea if theirs works. It's even worse to think that our bedrooms are above their kitchen/living room if a fire ever started down there.  

[LawrenceIII]

thats so sad. my house cought fire but our smoke thingys whent off and i being the only on home quickly put it out with are firethingy  

[[GWW Guild Mule]]

I test them once a year or so, and usually change the batteries once every 2-3 months. <3  

[Siofra Da`Halbria]

Good to hear.  

[Azana Brown]

Shadow Chyld

Oh my gods, that's awful! My heart goes out to the families of those children crying
I'd check my detectors, but I'm in a dorm and can't check them myself. And my dad burns food often enough for us to know our detectors at home are working rolleyes

The ones in the dorms are often kept operational by maintenance, so no worries, there. I'm just afraid that people won't take it seriously...we've had four false alarms this year, and by the third one some people were staying in for them. neutral  

[ringwraith10]

Ooh, thank you for your concern. You don't sound preachy. smile  

[WebenBanu]

Thank you for the warning, Siofra! I am so sorry for the tragedy, the loss, and the anguish which you are all going through! What a terrible thing to happen- there really aren't words which are sufficient to express something like this, but I will go check my smoke alarm and keep those kids and their family in my thoughts and prayers. *hugs*