CHARLOTTESVILLE, VIRGINIA – At a press briefing in front of City Hall today, the City of Charlottesville announced a “Call to Action” for residents, businesses, and landlords to regularly check their smoke detectors, including the obvious: whether they have usable batteries to enable the device to detect a problem occurring in the dwelling. After last night’s fire and the tragic loss of a Charlottesville citizen, Charlottesville Fire Chief Charles Werner said “it is clear that our community must do much more to ensure that every residence has a working smoke detector. While the Charlottesville Fire Department has had a proactive free smoke detector program and has installed over 1,200 smoke detectors, it does no good if they are not regularly maintained or checked by landlords and residents.”
The call for this incident came in around 9:25pm last night to the Emergency Communications Center and first responders were on the scene at 9:29pm. One resident of Charlottesville, John Fitzgerald Gilmore, 45 years old of 5th Street, SW was taken to UVa Hospital and pronounced dead by emergency medical staff. Curtis James Gilmore, SR, 73 years old of 5th Street, SW, was taken to UVa Hospital, where he was treated and released. Curtis Gilmore, SR is the father of John Gilmore, a noted musician in the Charlottesville area. In addition, three City police officers where treated on the scene for smoke inhalation and one officer was taken to UVa Hospital for respiratory issues but released later that evening.
Based on information from investigators and from a resident, investigators believe that the detector in the apartment did not have a battery. Additionally, the Fire Department completed a spot check of the remaining units of the Greenleaf Apartments complex and found that almost every apartment did NOT have a working smoke detector. The Fire Department installed smoke detectors in every unit before residents were allowed to return to their apartments.
Fire officials note that in not having a series of working units in the complex this created a very dangerous situation and potential further tragedy if the fire had occurred later when everyone was asleep. Werner continued “This is a call to action! Today, I am reaching out to everyone – Landlords, homeowners, residents, family members, City staff, home medical supply companies and any and all companies that serve people where they live to ask residents if they have a working smoke detector.”
IF YOU LIVE IN THE CITY AND NEED A NEW SMOKE DETECTOR CALL THE CHARLOTTESVILLE FIRE DEPARTMENT AT 970-3245. FIRE STAFF WILL COME OUT AND INSTALL THE DETECTOR AT NO CHARGE.
According to the National Fire Protection Association, most civilian fire deaths occur in the home and smoke detectors can dramatically increase an individual’s chances of surviving a fire in the home. Most vulnerable are children, the disabled and the elderly.
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