By John Dobberstein, Editor
The mobile home park where a woman and two children were killed in a horrific fire last weekend will be the target of a smoke detector awareness ‘blitz’ on Saturday.
The Broken Arrow Fire Department (BAFD) will continue its semi-annual Smoke Detector Blitz in the Camino Villa neighborhood, near Kenosha Street and County Line Road.
Manuela Baray, along with her twin teenagers, Yaretzy Talamentes and Yovanny Talamentes and her grandson, Jaaziel Gutierrez, were in the house when the fire broke out around 4:30 a.m. last Saturday, KJRH reported.
Manuela, Yaretzy and Jaaziel perished in the blaze and Yovanny is recovering in the hospital from severe burns over much of his body.
As of Thursday, BAFD’s deputy fire marshal was working on final aspects of the fire investigation. “For now we are classifying the cause as accidental and we know the area of origin of the fire was outside of the residence,” said Deputy Chief Philip Reid. “Once we have completed the investigation, we will conclude our report of our findings.”
Once in the spring and fall, the BAFD chooses a community in Broken Arrow to go door to door and visit with citizens, checking smoke detectors and batteries.
Firefighters will have three questions for citizens who open the door: Do you have a detector with operable batteries? Do you have a fire exit plan? Is the secondary exit in your home accessible?
“The most effective way to avoid the suffering of losing someone you love is to make sure that they have a working smoke detector and an escape plan in the event of a fire,” Reid said. “When you lose your home to fire, it’s a devastating loss. When you lose a life to fire, it’s a tragedy that is beyond words.”
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The department will start knocking on doors at 10 a.m. and plans to visit approximately 100 homes before wrapping up at 1 p.m. For those who aren’t home, a door hanger will be left with information about detectors and the BAFD number to call for detector assistance.
Six personnel crews from Broken Arrow Station #4, BAFD special events and rescue teams will participate in the Blitz.
Much like the service the BAFD offers to check residents’ detectors throughout the year, this event will provide free detectors, batteries, and installation for residents in need.
In 2021, the department installed 129 smoke detectors and replaced 115 batteries.
A GoFund Me account has been set up to help the family, which has already raised more than $23,000.
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