Lillian Malette was glad to see the small group of emergency vehicle drivers at the doorstep of her East Baltimore home Saturday morning.
The city employees were among 50 people canvassing Malette's neighborhood, checking smoke alarms and distributing new detectors and batteries to residents. The effort comes after a Wednesday night fire ravaged the rowhouse directly across the street from Malette's home, killing four people inside. One man in the home was able to escape after hearing an alarm.
"I'm thankful," said Malette, 54, after the workers installed two new smoke detectors in her home, and discussed safety tips with her. "We need it. God forbid something like this will happen again."
The cause of the fire at the house, in the 1600 block of E. Oliver St., remains under investigation, according to officials. The four victims are Phyllis Rouzer, 65; her granddaughters, Ericka Morris, 24, and Dynisha Diggs, 14; and Morris' daughter, Tyrese Brown, 2. Fire officials initially reported they found no evidence of smoke detectors in the house, but they have since discovered that, in fact, there were two activated smoke detectors in the house.
In 2008, nearly half the fire fatalities in Maryland took place in homes with working smoke detectors, according to a report by the state fire marshal.
"We're saddened even more to know that they had working smoke detectors," said Fire Chief James S. Clack. "But we know that the survival rate is higher when you have them."
City employees spent two hours distributing and installing several hundred smoke detectors free of charge, Clack said. The Fire Department purchased 10,000 smoke detectors at a cost of $80,000 to distribute to city residents, he added.
The employees were joined by Mayor Sheila Dixon, City Council President and mayor-to-be Stephanie C. Rawlings-Blake and Councilman Bernard C. "Jack" Young.
"We want to make sure that people are safe," said Dixon, who met with Malette and several other residents. "Part of our effort is to make sure that people have a plan."
Residents said they appreciated the service.
"Of course, I'm thankful," said Balis Abdur-Rahim, a 59-year-old who has lived in the neighborhood a couple of weeks. "Look across the street: That's a hell of a way to be greeted."
Idris Howard, Abdur-Rahim's son, said the effort by the city is important for residents. City employees installed a second smoke detector in his father's home, which was already equipped with a working smoke detector.
"Some people don't know about dead batteries and things like that," the 33-year-old Howard said.
Rawlings-Blake said that city residents can call their local fire station and request a new smoke detector free of charge.
"It's important that our citizens understand that there are resources available to them," she said after talking to a resident a block away from the site of the house fire.
The fire comes as the city faces a $120 million deficit. As a result, some, including a number of residents interviewed Saturday, fear the possible closure of fire stations. Dixon postponed until July the permanent closure of two firehouses and cut the number of rotating closures from five companies a day to four. Dixon's decision came after the rotating closure of one fire company contributed to a delay in firefighters' response to a West Baltimore house fire that killed one man.
Rawlings-Blake said that she plans to fight to keep the Fire Department intact.
"I'm continuously working as hard as I can to support the Fire Department," she said. "We can't continue to chip away at the Fire Department."
Smoke detectors
To request a new smoke alarm, individuals or families that cannot afford one can visit their nearest fire station or call 410-396-SAVE.