VERNON – Smoke alarms can be considered the cheapest form of insurance for families, according to Vernon’s fire chief.
That’s the message volunteers with Vernon Fire-Rescue Services were on a mission to get across at Sandy Beach Mobile home park Saturday morning.
Crews checked smoke alarms, installed new ones where they needed replacing and reminded residents how effective fire alarms are in saving lives; something Rose Kelly, a resident in the trailer park, is all too familiar with.
“If my son wasn’t here, I wouldn’t have gotten out, my hair was on fire,” says Kelly.
On the morning of Dec. 1, 2013, Kelly’s home went up in flames. She and her son made it out alive, but her pets weren’t as fortunate.
“We were lucky to get out, but unfortunately our two kittens didn’t get out; we couldn’t find them in the smoke,” explains Kelly.
It still hasn’t been determined exactly what caused that fire, other than it being some sort of an electrical issue.
“They had an electrical fire. They were awake at the time and it progressed through the trailer very quickly and we almost had a second trailer go as well,” says Deputy Chief Lawrie Skolrood.
He says the reason crews focus on mobile homes is because they are notorious for fast-spreading fires.
“What we find with mobile homes more than anything is they are not equipped with them necessarily, they’re older and fire progresses in them very quickly,” explains Skolrood.
Skolrood reminds all residents, living in a mobile home or not, to check their smoke alarms and replace them if they fail a smoke test.
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