Safety officials conduct fire safety walk-through following fatal Welsh Road fire

PlanPhilly staff

January 6, 2012

(A blaze on the 2600-block of Welsh Road led to the city's first fire fatality of the year.)

Officials from the American Red Cross of Southeastern Pennsylvania and the Philadelphia Fire Department spent yesterday afternoon on a safety mission after a fire claimed a man’s life Tuesday on the 2600-block of Welsh Road.

During the fire safety walk-through, residents of the apartment complex where the fire broke out, and those in nearby homes, were given fire safety kits and smoke detectors. The kits include smoke detector batteries and information on fire safety and prevention.

“The absence of a smoke detector or missing or dead batteries in the detector is a primary reason why fires become deadly,” American Red Cross of Southeastern Pennsylvania CEO Renée Cardwell Hughes said in a release. “In other words, having a working smoke detector can significantly increase your chances of surviving a fire.”

Safety walk-throughs help residents identify conditions that could potentially lead to a fire.

Tuesday’s blaze was the first fire fatality of the year.

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