Baby's Tragic Death Leads To Team Effort To Save Lives In Boulder
BOUDER, Colo. (CBS4) - A tragedy has Boulder firefighters teaming up with a local company in trying to save lives in the future.
The effort began after a 2-year-old died this fall in a fire inside a mobile home that didn't have a working smoke detector.
The baby's death should be a wakeup call. That's why when the Rondinelli Life Safety Group, an Arvada sprinkler system company, asked the Boulder Fire Department what it could do to help, the firefighters said to help provide smoke alarms.
Now a flier has been sent to more than 600 homes in the mobile home neighborhood offering a smoke and carbon monoxide detector for free.
"When we got there it was already burning everywhere. Where we eventually found the child was where most of the fire was," Interim Fire Chief Mike Calderazzo said.
It was devastating to firefighters when they couldn't find a working some detector, which may have saved the baby's life.
"Smoke alarms are a first line of defense in every home, no matter what kind they are," Calderazzo said.
Yet Calderazzo said many homes don't have smoke detectors. The fire department and Rondinelli Life Safety Group wanted to use the tragedy as an opportunity to teach residents the importance of smoke alarms.
"It's fresh in their minds," he said.
Jesus Luna, who lives across the street from the burned trailer, plans to take advantage of the offer.
"It was too late to get the little kid out," Luna said.
Calderazzo says people usually have less than two to three minutes to get out of a burning home.
"Most everyone dies from smoke inhalation long before they die from the fire itself, which is why smoke alarms are so important to have working," he said.
Calderazzo said Rondinelli Life Safety Group has given $6,000 for the smoke and carbon monoxide detectors. Firefighters are offering to install them for free and teach people how to test them.
