SALISBURY, Md. – A 4 year-old child playing with matches lit his bed on fire Saturday morning, but fortunately, the apartment was equipped with working smoking alarms and fire sprinklers. The smoke alarms coupled with sprinklers are being credited with saving lives and keeping damages to a minimum.
The 8:24 AM fire happened at the 200 block of Winterborn Lane in a two-story, five unit apartment building.
Fifteen firefighters from Salisbury Fire Department and Fruitland Volunteer Fire Company arrived and discovered a fire that had been extinguished by a sprinkler located in the child's bedroom. Deputy State Fire Marshals were dispatched to the scene and concluded the child was playing with matches before igniting bedding material. Investigators credit working smoke alarms which notified the child 's parents to the fire. The parents were able to safely escape the apartment and notify the other tenants of the building. A single sprinkler located in the bedroom activated and extinguished the fire, keeping the fire contained.
Along with no reported injuries, damages were kept to a minimum at an
estimated $4,000.00. Sprinklers and smoke alarms have been required in apartments and other multi-unit buildings for over 20 years. "This is yet another example of the effectiveness of automatic fire sprinklers in residential occupancies. The presence of not only sprinklers but working smoke alarms and a home escape plan undoubtedly prevented a more tragic outcome," stated William E. Barnard, Maryland State Fire Marshal
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