PHOENIX — With community mourning a Valley family after they died in a fire earlier in the month the Phoenix Fire Department spent Saturday working to make sure a similar tragedy doesn't happened again.
The deadly fire happened near 35th and Northern avenues on March 1, and claimed the lives of five people. Valley father Shimone Boyer, along with his children, ages 7, 8, 9 and 11, all died in the fire.
After the deadly fire "investigators were unable to locate any smoke detectors inside the residence," the fire department said.
The lack of smoke detectors in the home is what prompted Saturday's event. The fire department hosted a smoke detector walk in the community where the fire happened. Firefighters and other volunteers installed smoke detectors in homes that needed them and replaced batteries in smoke detectors that weren't working.
"The reason smoke detectors do not sound is because of missing or dead batteries," said fire Captain Todd Keller.
Every moment counts when there is a fire and working smoke detectors let you know as soon as one happens, increasing your chance of making it out alive.
"You have about five minutes to get outside of your house," Keller explained.
The fire department was joined on the smoke detector walk by community partners including the United Phoenix Firefighters Association Local 493, the Arizona Burn Foundation, Mercy Care, and the Phoenix Fire Foundation.
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