
On two different volunteers with the Red Cross had previously installed multiple smoke alarms in the McCullough home on Bildahl Street during a Red Cross “Sound the Alarm” smoke alarm installation event. Red Cross volunteers and married couple Scott and Kate comfort Doreen in the days following her home fire Photo Credit: Rockford Fire DepartmentĪ local husband and wife volunteer team, Scott Suma and Kate Rehak, responded to that fire and helped the family figure out what to do in the coming days and navigate the confusing time after a home fire. The McCullough home on Bildahl Street on September 3, 2019. Soon the Rockford Fire Department arrived and put out the fire, but not before the house was damaged to the point of being unlivable. Doreen and her husband Lial as well as their two daughters, Makila and Carmen, all sat across the street in the early morning hours and watched the home they had lived in for nearly 12 years go up in a ball of fire. The entire family escaped the house as the flames started to envelope an entire side of the home. “All I could see was this big orange ball of fire, I mean it was huge,” Doreen said. She went downstairs and woke up her mother, Doreen, who then woke up her other daughter, 25-year-old Carmen. The Everett Fire Department, in cooperation with the American Red Cross of Snohomish County, will install smoke alarms, free of charge, in the homes of low income, seniors and those with disabilities.As the smoke drifted in an upstairs window of the home, it set off a smoke alarm waking up 12-year-old Makila. We can also help install or troubleshoot your fire alarm.


Residents of the City of Everett can get information about home safety assessments and smoke alarms by calling the Fire Marshal’s Office at 42 or email at have specialized alarms for people with hearing issues. The smoke alarm should be replaced 10 years from that date (not the date of purchase). To find out how old your smoke alarm is and its expiration date, simply look on the back of the alarm where the date of manufacture is marked. Smoke alarms lose their effectiveness over time and should be replaced at least every 10 years. It’s important to properly install and maintain your home smoke alarms. In fires in which the smoke alarms were present but did not operate, almost half (46%) of the smoke alarms had missing or disconnected batteries.Three of every five home fire deaths resulted from fires in homes with no smoke alarms (38%) or no working smoke alarms (21%).According to the National Fire Protection Association:

Smoke alarms provide an early warning of a fire, giving people additional escape time that can save lives. Most deadly fires happen at night, when people are asleep.
