A family narrowly escapes after a fire in their mobile home. Fire alarms didn’t activate
A Beaufort-area family narrowly escaped after a fire that started from a candle engulfed their mobile home on Saturday, Burton Fire District Investigators say.
The Burton Fire Department responded to calls of a fire around 4 a.m. at Independent Mobile Home Park off Trask Parkway on Saturday. A family member woke to the sounds of the burning, according to a press release from the Burton Fire District. The family of three was able to escape and close the bedroom door behind them, containing the fire. The fire alarms in the home did not activate, according to the press release.
“If he didn’t wake up, we could have responded to a fatality,” Burton Fire District spokesperson Captain Daniel Bryne said.
Burton firefighters were able to quickly extinguish the flames, and no one was injured. Because of damage to the home, the family cannot stay there while repairs are made, Bryne said. The American Red Cross is assisting the family, according to the press release.
“They can’t move back in for a while,” Bryne said. “We don’t know why their fire alarms didn’t activate. They were pretty damaged from the flames.”
Fire alarms must have batteries as a backup in addition to being connected to a home’s electrical system, Bryne said. The Burton Fire District responded to a fatality several years ago in which a family had their fire alarms connected to their home’s electricity system, Bryne said. The home lost power in a bad storm and a fire started. In that instance, no fire alarms went off and the family lost a child because of it, according to Bryne.
About 16% of fire deaths occurred in places with malfunctioning smoke alarms, according to a report by the National Fire Protection Association, published in February, and 41% of fire deaths had no smoke alarms at all. Burton Fire officials urge residents to check the batteries on their fire alarms twice a year and make sure they are less than 10 years old.
“You have to take care of them like you would anything else in the house,” Bryne said. “Every county fire department offers changing batteries for free. Just call your local fire department.”
Burton residents can call (843) 255-8011 to have the smoke alarms in their homes inspected by the Burton Fire District.
This story has been updated to clarify that fire alarms must be connected to a home’s electrical system and have batteries as a backup.
This story was originally published May 24, 2021 at 2:14 PM.
