HUNTSVILLE, Ala. — One person is dead after a Tuesday morning house fire in Huntsville.
According to Huntsville Fire Marshal Dan Wilkerson, the cause of the fire is accidental. Deputy Fire Marshal Mike Jaco said that most of the fire damage was confined to the living room, but there was smoke throughout the house. The cause of death, according to the Madison County Coroner, was smoke inhalation.
Working smoke and carbon monoxide detectors offer important protection against deadly house fires. FOX54 reported on why these matter before the start of National Fire Prevention Week. Fire Marshal Wilkerson explained, "Your chances of surviving a fire greatly decrease if you don't have a working smoke alarm in your home."
Not every home has working smoke alarms and carbon monoxide detectors, but they need to.
"It is very important to have a smoke alarm in your home because when you're sleeping and you have a fire, that's going to be your only defense of getting out of the house safely," Wilkerson said.
Most times, victims of house fires are killed from carbon monoxide poisoning, and not the actual flames.
"So when you have a fire it produces carbon monoxide which is odorless and colorless." Wilkerson said. "So if you're sleeping, and you're breathing the carbon monoxide once your levels get to a certain point, you lose consciousness and you'll never wake up"
This year fire prevention week is from October 3 through October 9. Wilkerson says the theme is, "learn the sounds of fire safety."
Huntsville Fire and Rescue hosts lectures and informational sessions for residents to learn more about fire safety. If you're interested, call the non-emergency line of a station near you.