Firefighters remind residents to check fire alarms

NORWALK - L.A. County firefighters are urging residents not to smoke in bed after a Pomona man suffered serious injuries after falling asleep while holding a lit cigarette.The man went to bed with the cigarette on Oct. 1. The bed caught fire after the man fell asleep. Smoke alarms allowed the man to escape the house but not before sustaining serious burns. Earlier this year, a 54-year-old Pico Rivera woman was killed when her house caught fire from smoking in bed. "As bad as this most recent incident was, it could have been much worse had there not been working smoke alarms in the home," Fire Captain Tom Richards said in a news release. "Every year in the United States over 2,500 people perish in residential structure fires. Many of these fatalities could have been prevented with the presence of functioning smoke alarms. "It is estimated that 70 percent of all fire deaths occur in homes without working smoke alarms," Richards added.

********** Published: October 11, 2012 - Volume 11 - Issue 26