Roanoke Times
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: TUESDAY, March 1, 1994 TAG: 9403040025
SECTION: EDITORIAL PAGE: A4 EDITION: METRO
SOURCE:
DATELINE: LENGTH: Medium
But candlelight, for all its warm, comforting glow, can also be deadly.
In Baltimore, seven children and two adults died when fire engulfed their row house this past weekend. The fire was caused by candles that the family was burning for light because their electricity had been cut off four months ago. It was cut off because they had allowed an electric bill to mount to $1,400, and reportedly had not responded to Baltimore Gas & Electric Co.'s offer to let them pay off the bill over a four-year period.
Doubtless this was a poor family. They had qualified for assistance from a state-run program that helps the poor with utility bills. The Maryland program, strained like counterpart programs in other states by high demands during this severe winter, had been able to contribute only $384 for this particular family. That, of course, is part of the tragedy.
But another part is that these deaths might have been prevented by a very cheap gadget available in most grocery stores and drug stores. It is a smoke alarm that runs not by electricity but by batteries - also cheap. There were no smoke detectors in the Baltimore family's house.
Here in Southwest Virginia, no deaths have been attributed to similar circumstances that we know of. But winter's not over. We may even be in for more power outages. If so, let's be reminded to take care with the use of candles.
More importantly, let this be a reminder to families to install smoke detectors - good all year-round, not just in winter - in homes that don't have them now. Or if they've been installed, remember to check them regularly to make sure the batteries are fresh and that these simple but effective fire-alert devices are in good working order.
Perhaps the Baltimore case will remind us also that we have many neighbors who have difficulty paying their electric bills.
Appalachian Power Co. has long had a Neighbor-to-Neighbor program through which its customers can make voluntary contributions to a fund, administered by the Virginia Department of Social Services, that helps keep the lights and heat on for needy families. That in itself is a worthy goal, and support for this program may even save lives.
Keywords:
FATALITY
by CNB