Frank Lewis says he knows the reason he?s still alive ? it?s the smoke detector the Baltimore City Fire Department installed in his home.
“It saved my life because I had it,” Lewis said Tuesday, standing in front of his North Payson Street row house, which was destroyed in a Feb. 1 fire.
At about 4 a.m., a candle in the home set off a blaze that nearly cost Lewis, his wife, Patty, and their son, Eric, 14, their lives.
Because the fire alarm alerted the family to the blaze, the couple escaped unharmed, but firefighters needed to rescue Eric.
“It was due to the courageous efforts of the fire department that our lives were saved,” Frank Lewis said.
Eric Lewis remains at the University of Maryland Shock Trauma Center, where he continues to suffer from smoke inhalation injuries sustained during the fire, Lewis said.
“Emotionally, I?m still a wreck, because of my son,” he said. “If he could get back to 50 percent or 25 percent of his health, we?d want to see that.”
Members of the fire department say the rescue demonstrates how important it is for citizens to install smoke detectors in their houses.
“That smoke detector resulted in people being saved,” Fire Department Deputy Chief Theodore Saunders said. ” … Men and women put their lives on the line so other people can live.”
Baltimore?s Smoke Detector Program was reinstituted in 1994. During that time, the program has grown from 14,000 installations a year to 70,000 in 2006.
Twenty people have died in fires in Maryland so far this year, and fire investigators say smoke alarms could have saved some of those lives ? including in two recent fatal fires in Anne Arundel and Harford counties.
