Pasadena : Smoke Detectors Urged

Fire officials, concerned about five fire-related deaths in the city in the last 11 months, last week urged people to install smoke detectors in their homes and to make sure the equipment works.

A working smoke detector would have made the difference between life and death, said Capt. Harry Crusberg, lead investigator on the fatal blazes.

The most recent blaze occurred Tuesday, when a woman in her 60s was found dead in a 3 a.m. fire in her second-floor bedroom at 215 Sequoia Drive.

The cause of that fire was smoking in bed, Crusberg said. A smoke detector, found on the floor, was not working, and an alarm system upstairs also was not working, he said.

The other deaths occurred in three fires:

On Dec. 22, a 35-year-old man and 40-year-old woman died and a 60-year-old woman was critically injured in a fire caused by smoking materials smoldering in an overstuffed chair. A smoke detector was found on the floor with no battery.

The next night, a 46-year-old woman died in a fire caused by smoking in bed. No smoke detector was found.

Last March 24, a 65-year-old woman died in a fire caused by smoking in bed. No smoke detector was found.