MILWAUKEE — After a fatal fire on Milwaukee's west side over the weekend, the fire department is sending a message to the public: pay attention to your smoke alarms.
"It's a terrible tragedy. Very unfortunate circumstance," said Fire Chief Aaron Lipski after an 81-year-old man died in a house fire on Saturday near 32nd and Lisbon.
However, the chief said it was also preventable.
"If you hear a smoke alarm, get out of your building and call 911 immediately. We cannot continue to have people ignore smoke alarms," he said.
According to the Milwaukee Fire Department (MFD), the alarms in the house where the man died are in working order.
But often, the department says, people are slow to react to alarms and it's sometimes too late to get out.
In response, MFD went door-to-door along 32nd Street to install free smoke alarms for anyone who would take one.
The free alarms have a battery that lasts for ten years.
You can get an alarm by calling the Smoke Alarm Hotline at (414) 286-8980.
