Inoperative Smoke Detector Found at Scene of Fatal Fire

Hours after a Fillmore couple died in a house fire this week, four families in Camarillo narrowly escaped a blaze that ripped through their five-unit apartment complex.

They were awakened by a screeching smoke detector.

Donald and Debra Armstrong were not.

The couple died of burns and smoke inhalation after a fire broke out in the living room of their Ventura Street ranch house late Wednesday. Donald Armstrong, 58, was apparently trying to escape the blaze when he was overcome by smoke filling his Spanish-style home.

On Friday, Ventura County investigators said the fire was an accident, sparked either by a burning candle or a cigarette.

After sifting through the charred rubble, investigators also made a grim discovery: Although they found a new plastic smoke detector in the home, it was missing a battery.

“From what we can tell right now, it appears there were no operable smoke detectors in the house, which is tragic in itself,” said spokeswoman Sandi Wells.

In contrast, a fire that broke out in an apartment complex on Calle El Volador about four hours later was quickly detected by a smoke detector that woke four families about 2:30 a.m., Wells said.

If such a device had been properly installed in the Armstrongs’ home, she said, it might have saved their lives.

Having a working smoke detector cuts the chances of dying in a house fire nearly in half, she said.

Nationwide, about 4,000 people die each year in residential fires and in most of those cases, smoke detectors have not been installed, according to the National Fire Protection Assn.

Studies show that although 90% of homes have smoke detectors, about a third are missing charged batteries.

“They are loud and that is the reason people disconnect them,” Wells said. “But they do work. I just think in every situation, if it gives you a couple of seconds it’s worth it.”

That is why fire departments across Southern California have launched a campaign to give away smoke detectors.

Working with a regional TV station and an electronics company, fire officials hope to give away 50,000 of the devices. Today is the deadline to request a smoke detector, however. They will be distributed in the next two weeks.

Wells hopes that the deaths of Armstrong and his 47-year-old wife will encourage Ventura County residents to take fire precautions inside their own homes.

The Armstrong family has known tragedy before.

In 1988, Dawn Holman, the daughter of Debra Armstrong--then Debra Guadagno--was raped and slain at the San Buenaventura Golf Course. Holman, a 20-year-old local beauty queen, was killed after letting Larry Davis into her car.

Davis, then 32, said he gave her $20 for a ride. Holman’s strangled body was later found lying partly clothed on the golf course.