Chattanooga woman stresses the importance of working smoke alarms

A Chattanooga resident says smoke alarms saved her life when a candle got out of control in her kitchen, nearly causing a damaging and dangerous house fire. Carrie Harris reached out to the Chattanooga Fire Department asking for help replacing the batteries in the smoke alarm in her home in the Woodmore area. Senior Firefighter Allen Green, the CFD’s Fire & Life Safety Educator, brought new batteries to Ms. Harris’ house and installed them in her smoke alarm near her bedrooms. He also added two new smoke alarms outside of her kitchen for additional protection. Only two days after that, Harris and her daughter were sleeping in her residence when she heard the new smoke alarms going off. She rushed to the kitchen where she found flames coming from a candle she thought she had extinguished the night before. She was able to quickly toss the candle in the sink and get the flames under control before they could spread to her kitchen cabinets and the rest of her home. Now Harris is urging citizens to make sure they have functioning smoke alarms. She hopes other senior citizens will ask for assistance from the CFD if needed. Chattanooga Fire gives out smoke alarms throughout the year as part of our ongoing fire prevention efforts and to hear from a resident about how those safety devices stopped a disaster from happening was very impactful. Smoke alarms give you the time you need to get out alive. Call 423-643-5600 if you need batteries or smoke alarms.