Fire In Palm Springs Prompts Fire Safety
PALM SPRINGS – The city of Palm Springs is trying to rise from the ashes of tragedy in more ways than one. After an early morning fire New Year’s day killed a woman, her three children and a man at a mobile home park near Palm Springs, communities have come together.
“Our rule is to make sure we prevent these fires. We can’t always prevent the fires but if a fire does start, know what to do,” says Palm Springs Fire Chief Blake Goetz.
According to the Palm Springs Fire Department, about 3,500 die in fires and 20,000 more are injured every year.
“We have a lot of mobile homes in Palm Springs and in the Coachella Valley and mobile homes tend to burn faster, especially older mobile homes,” says Goetz.
In response to the new year’s day fire, theU.S. Fire Administration would like to remind everyone about fire prevention and safety tips.
“Everybody should be checking their smoke detectors and replacing the batteries when we change our clocks, that’s the most important thing we can do and second thing is to know what to do in a fire, how to stay low and not breathe hot air and gases and how to evacuate the building and get to a safe refuge,” Goetz says.
He also suggests regular maintenance of your heating system and avoid storing flammable items near sources of heat. So that fires like this can be avoided.
“Hopefully from the donations of the community, the firefighters and from the city employees as well, her life will be as best as it can be in this unfortunate circumstance that she’s in,” says Goetz.
