Ashes to ...

Thursday, January 12, 2012

Three children and their grandparents died on Christmas day in Connecticut after someone carelessly disposed of fireplace ashes. Last February, ashes stored in a pizza box on a screened porch in Mont Vernon apparently started a fire that destroyed a home. Fortunately, there was no loss of life.

We have said it before, but it bears saying again: Take no chances when it comes to disposing of things that were once on fire, and might still be smoldering. Embers aren’t always visibly red and glowing; sometimes they are covered with ash and remain unseen until they find something to ignite, like a pizza box in Mont Vernon or a bag in Connecticut.

Worse, in the case of the deadly Connecticut fire, according to the New York Daily News, it was unclear if the $1.7 million home “was equipped with a single $10 smoke alarm ... A hard-wired alarm system in the recently renovated house was not connected.” But the fireplace was working and was being used.

The real horror of the Christmas day tragedy is that it was so easily avoidable. First, don’t throw ashes away in something flammable and, second, please have working smoke alarms, hard-wired or not.

The life you save ...