Smoke Detector Campaign Launched By Newtown Firefighters

NEWTOWN TOWNSHIP, PA — In the wake of a deadly fire on Mahogany Walk that claimed the life of a 77-year-old woman early Monday morning, Newtown Fire Rescue is launching a smoke detector campaign throughout the community.

Assistant Fire Chief Nick Weaver made the announcement at this week's Board of Supervisors meeting in Newtown Township.

“We will be doing a smoke detector campaign throughout the community, specifically in Newtown Grant and on Mahogany Walk. We will be doing door-to-door knocks to get smoke detectors installed.”

Weaver urges residents to check their detectors to make sure they are in working order and have fresh batteries. “They do save lives,” he said. “Make sure you have one on each floor, in each
bedroom, and outside of the sleeping area.

"And please close your doors at night," he said. "I understand you want to keep your doors open for your children. Invest in a baby monitor and keep your doors shut at night. That door will hold a lot of fire back," he said.

Weaver said Newtown Fire Rescue has free smoke detectors to hand out and to install. "We will come out to any residence in the community, evaluate the needs of your home and put them in for you."

After the meeting, Weaver said the building involved in Monday morning’s house fire had smoke detectors, but they weren’t functioning. "We only saw non-functioning detectors. We were not aware of any alarms going off at the time of dispatch or on the scene," he said

Weaver also said that investigators have determined the origin of the fire to be accidental in nature and not suspicious. A final report is pending the receipt of the autopsy report, he said.