According to data from the state's Fire Marshal's Office, there have been 13 fire fatalities so far in Alabama in 2024. In that data, it was found that in only one case, there were smoke alarms. In the other 12 incidents, there were either no smoke alarms, or it was unknown if there were.
The statistics emphasize the need for working smoke alarms. Center Point Fire District has a smoke alarm campaign that is part of their risk reduction plan.
"I think our efforts, not only in smoke detectors, but in other areas, over the last two years we've had no fire deaths and we take that as a huge win and hopefully that'll continue," said Center Point Fire Marshal Brandon Self. Self has been the fire marshal in Center Point since 2016. He said last year in their campaign, crews have installed about 100 smoke alarms, where as in 2016, they installed about 20-30.