Who’s Watching The Kids? (The Secret List)

WHO checks the status of smoke alarms at vacation properties, sleepovers, grandparents house, hotels … anywhere and everywhere yours/mine/our kids stay….

I, like everyone else, was (and remain) stunned after learning that a dwelling fire in Chicago claimed the lives of all four family members of Chicago Firefighter Walter Stewart. He lost his wife and all three kids a few weeks ago. He was on duty at another firehouse, heard the run, and was driven to the scene by a caring battalion chief.

Upon arrival, he ended up working on and trying to save his own wife.

In Firefighter Stewart’s case, the kids were home and certainly presumed safe with Mom – until that devastating fire. Our heartfelt condolences and prayers remain for all involved.

The general public might not understand how there could be a fire in a firefighter’s home, but while we understand fire dynamics and how devastating fire outcomes can be, we are certainly not immune from tragedy.

More often, though, we hear the stories of non-firefighter families, like the family who lost their two daughters in a fire in a vacation rental property in the Noyak area of Long Island, New York.

In our world as firefighters, it’s unbelievable, but yet, smoke alarms are still missing, not working, missing batteries or whatever in that New York home. Fire personnel said that while the home had smoke alarms, the ongoing investigation has not yet determined if they were working as designed … in a house that did not have a valid rental permit.

So that’s what this column is about – our responsibility for the kids. Our kids, your kids, their kids. It’s about THAT conversation and having dual-purpose smoke and carbon monoxide (CO) alarms. Everywhere kids may be. Anywhere. 

WHY IS THIS SO HARD TO GET ACROSS?!

Please keep reading (link below) and consider using this message in your own communities, from your fire department:

Take Care. Be Careful. Pass it On.

BillyG

The Secret List 3/23/2023-0800 Hours