IMLAY, Mich. – For the Imlay City Fire Department fire prevention is a top priority. That is why efforts are underway to install free smoke detectors.
They are focusing on the mobile home parks. In February four kids died at the Maple Grove Mobile Home Park.
Mangled wood and melted plastic. That is what was left behind of the home inside the Maple Grove Mobile Home Park. It has been months since the deadly fire, but neighbors remember it vividly.
“I woke up and I was getting ready to take my kid to school. I wasn’t thinking anything about it. I was coming in and there were firetrucks going passed,” said Patrick Vernier.
Vernier said he wasn’t sure what was going on, but the news of four kids killed in the fire that day was gut wrenching.
“That is pretty sad. That’s a family. I couldn’t imagine that ever happening to me, “said Vernier.
Firefighters said a 3-year-old girl, 6-year-old boy, 5-year-old boy and infant girl all died in the fire.
“We are a young department. A lot of us have children, grandchildren, nieces and nephews who were in that age group, a couple of them, their children have gone to school, or knew of the oldest child that was killed. We don’t want to see this happen again. If we can, at least mitigate it from happening again, that’s what we want to do,” said Captain Scott Stone with the Imlay City Fire Department.
Stone is passing out and installing free smoke detectors inside homes that need them. They plan on focusing the effort on the Maple Grove Mobile Park.
“Right now in this fire hall, we have over 2,200 smoke detectors and 72 carbon monoxide detectors,” said Stone.
The goal is to give away all of them. The fire department will start passing out and installing the detectors on Saturday, April 27th at 10 a.m.
The Burton Home Depot helped provide the smoke alarms. If you need a smoke detector in your home, call 810-724-6262.