On Christmas Eve, a house fire on Belcamp Street in Rio Linda killed one person; three other people were inside, including an infant. They were able to make it out.
On Christmas day, a fire in North Highlands took the life of a 22-year-old woman, and two dogs. Investigators say that the fire was caused by an artificial Christmas tree.
There were no working smoke detectors in the home.
On Saturday morning (January 21) we walked with Metro Fire and the Sacramento Red Cross as they installed smoke alarms for neighborhood families who needed them. Metro Fire officials and firefighters hope to avoid the tragedies that took place during the holidays.
Earlier in the day, firefighters and volunteers were in the area of the fire in North Highlands and distributed over 100 smoke alarms, and distributed over 100 more in the Rancho Cordova area last week. Firefighters from Engine 111, Medic 111, Truck 27, Chief Dan Haverty and Metro Fire District 1 Director Cinthia Saylors walked the area, along with members of the Sacramento Red Cross and the Metro Fire CERT team (Community Emergency Response Team).
According to Chief Haverty, this is the third Saturday that Metro Fire has done this sort of community outreach since the beginning of the year.
“We do this (outreach) when there has been a serious fire incident like that because it has such a dramatic effect on the community. When we lose someone in a fire like that, it’s also healthy for the members of the department to come out and try to help people protect themselves with a very simple thing like smoke alarms.”
Metro Fire Chief Haverty
