George Esbensen, Eden Prairie Fire Chief

This past Saturday morning at 5:27am I was awakened by my fire pager alerting me to a house fire. While en-route to the scene the first arriving police officer advised that all the occupants of the house had successfully exited. (Our police are very well trained in our fire operations and know the kinds of information that we need in order to set our priorities upon arrival.) Unfortunately the house was nearly consumed by the blaze which appeared to have started in the garage area of the home.

When I spoke with the occupants of the home they informed me that their smoke detectors had awakened them. They checked for the source of the smoke and found their garage engulfed in flames. They had just enough time to exit the house. While the near total loss of the house is a tragic event, things could have been much worse. The bottom line is that their properly maintained smoke detector saved their lives.

Below is picture of the fire upon my arrival at the scene and then the aftermath. You can see from the first picture that this fire was well advanced only minutes from the 911 call. Without working smoke detectors there is little doubt that lives would have been lost.

Be sure to check your smoke detectors today, replace the batteries when you change your clocks forward in the Spring and backward in the Fall. Detectors that are over 10 years old typically need replacing. This simple little device, the smoke detector, is a true live saver. Treat your smoke detector well, your life may depend on it.

Upon Arrival