Jacksonville firefighters gather in front of a home Knoll Drive North where two residents and two firefighters were injured in a fire. Firefighters joined the mayor and fire chief to give smoke detectors and safety information to neighbors on Monday, Dec. 9, 2024. | Dan Scanlan, Jacksonville Today
Published on December 9, 2024 at 4:08 pm
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Less than a day after a fire across the street from his home, Jerry Bowden had an answer for Mayor Donna Deegan and Fire Chief Keith Powers on Monday when they came to his front door with a question.
Yes, he told them, he has smoke detectors in his home. He’s grateful he’s never had a need for them, but he did accept fire safety information from the mayor and chief.
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Then Powers and Deegan moved on to ask the same question to others in this Rolling Hills neighborhood where two residents and two firefighters were injured on Knoll Drive North.
Multiple fires over five days in Jacksonville killed two people and injured several firefighters, so Deegan and Powers said they felt an urgency to pass on fire safety rules and smoke detectors.
Add to that the dangers of space heaters in cooler weather and Christmas decorations on trees, they said.
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“We don’t know what caused this fire at this point, but at this time of year we have a particular challenge,” Deegan said. “So we want to make sure everybody is fire-conscious right now, and we don’t want another tragedy like this one, so we will try to do the best we can to educate this community.”
Powers added: “The importance of the working smoke detector — those are truly life-saving. We are just out here to reinforce today because we want everyone to have a safe and wonderful holiday season. And we went through a rash of tragedies in the last three or four days, and we are out here just trying to emphasize the importance of fire safety.”
Firefighters responded to the house fire in the Westside neighborhood about 6:30 p.m. Sunday. Flames gutted the center of the home and damaged an SUV in the driveway. Crews found someone inside the house and rescued him through a window.
The two firefighters who saved the man, one by rushing in without an air mask, were injured and taken to the hospital, fire officials said.
The fire came just hours after a man had died in a blaze on Pipit Avenue on the city’s Northwest side. No one else was in that house when firefighters arrived, officials said.
Another woman was killed in a fire early Wednesday on McConihe Street. Two firefighters were hurt as they tried to get a jammed front door open, fire department Capt. Eric Prosswimmer said.
Powers and Deegan spent some time with family members of those injured Sunday night before speaking to other neighbors. The family members did not wish to comment, Prosswimmer said.
Powers said it does appear that a smoke detector was not working before Sunday’s fire. He spoke as crew members from Fire Station 31 and department staff unloaded about 60 new smoke detectors, ready to be handed out.
“Our fire prevention bureau works on this year round. They go out and do community education,” Powers said. “The mayor has a fire safety advocate assigned to this team that does nothing but go out and work on smoke detectors and education of the public. …. But it also takes the public listening to the message they are putting out there to keep themselves safe.”
Katherine Gilley spent a few minutes speaking with the mayor and fire chief about the need for smoke detectors. She, like Bowden, did not need them, but neighbors got theirs for free.
“I think it’s great,” Gilley said. “I do have them, basically one in every room.”
As for safety tips to prevent fires, the fire department has a long list of do’s and don’ts here.
Those rules include keeping space heaters far from anything that can catch fire and not leaving them unattended. Live Christmas trees need to be watered and kept away from heat, and the lights should be plugged in safely. Also check the batteries on smoke and carbon monoxide detectors.
Fire safety help
The city has a program that provides and installs free smoke detectors for any qualifying Jacksonville resident. The fire department also installs replacement batteries in existing smoke detectors for free. Just call 630-CITY (2489) for either service, Deegan said.
