According to The American Red Cross, fires take seven lives every day. Just by having a working smoke detector, this statistic can be cut in half. 

A fire recently occurred on 2532 East Second Street, which led to the passing of a 52-year-old male. According to the Superior Telegram, Fire Chief Scott Gordon, “There weren’t any audible smoke detectors or carbon monoxide detectors in the house.”

Fatalities like this, unfortunately, serve as a reminder that anyone living in the domicile can help prevent a fire.  

“The most important thing a teen can do is to make sure you have a working smoke detector in your house,” Battalion Cheif Howerd Huber said. 

Junior Kaden Radich’s smoke alarms went off at the end of Feb. due to low batteries.  

“My family replaced them immediately,” Radich said.

Sophomore Kenzie Kroll has had two close encounters with fire safety. Twice her stove has caught fire, causing her smoke alarms to go off each time. The alarms gave her enough time to get to the stove and put the fire out before it went beyond her control.

“Because I had installed smoke alarms in my house, I had enough time to react and put the fire out, so I didn’t have to contact emergency services,” Kroll said.

Captain Mike Hoyt works for the Superior, Wis., fire department, and he believes that basic mistakes and everyday habits can cause accidental fires. He recommends not leaving your phone, laptop, or devices with lithium ion batteries on your bed while plugged in. This causes the battery to heat up, and that heat has no way to escape. His recommendation is to leave it on a hard surface, such as a table so it has a place for the heat to vent out. He also said to have a meeting place escape plans set up with your family and to “be mindful,”

The American Red Cross is hosting a campaign for no-cost fire alarms from April 18 to May 3 at getasmokealarm.org or by calling 218-722-0071. Volunteers are also available to install the detectors.

One can get up to three smoke detectors installed for free. If they are deaf or hard of hearing they can also fill out a request form for a specialized bedside smoke detector.