House Fire Tour

This home in Davenport was the scene of a fatal fire recently ( http://www.qctimes.com/articles/2008/09/04/news/local/doc48c08529454ee290544412.txt?sPos=1 ). The family gave permission for the fire department to give educational tours of the house, to educate people about how to prevent such fires. Leo, Brad, Leo, his friend Kyle, & I took the tour, and it was very eye opening.
This is the living room, where the fire started. The fire itself was entirely contained to this corner of the room, where a power strip next the the sofa was covered with debris, causing a heat buildup--and a fire. All the walls in the house were covered in black soot. The walls were originally white.
This is a pic the fire investigator took of the source of the fire. You can see the power strip on the floor--or what's left of it.
This is a closeup of the power strip. It was sent to a lab for further analysis.
The kitchen sink. I took this shot to show just how thick the smoke was. This sink is as far away from the fire as you could get in the house, around two corners, in the opposite corner of the house. The residents died of smoke inhalation, but they might have lived if their smoke detector had been properly installed. It was functional, but was on the floor--and didn't go off until after they were likely dead.
My thanks to the family for allowing the DFD to give these educational tours. A lot of people came, and I think it was obvious the tour had an impact on everyone who participated. Please, make sure you have working smoke detectors, and that they are installed properly. I sure will!