Brianna Calix: Remember fire safety to prevent holiday tragedies

Last week marked the two-year anniversary of a tragic fire that claimed the lives of two small children and a brave father and husband.

Ignacio Figueroa-Bautista, 31, died Dec. 3, 2013, after pulling his wife and infant daughter out of an apartment engulfed in towering flames. He realized two 5-year-old family members still were in the home and went back to save them. He and the children never made it out.

The fire completely gutted the apartment on 10th Street, and damage was estimated at $42,000.

Maricela Perez, 28 at the time, and her 13-month-old daughter, Kaily, both were hospitalized. They traveled to Mexico for the three funerals in the weeks following the fire.

Q: What was the cause of the deadly fire?

A: Two years have passed, yet the investigation into the cause of the fire is still open. Private insurance investigators were working to determine the cause of the fire in March 2014, and there hasn’t been much headway in the investigation since then.

Merced fire Capt. Cory Haas said the length of the investigation is not necessarily unusual. “That can happen in cases of fatalities and more complicated investigations,” he said.

In the past, fire officials said the fire appeared to be accidental, and they weren’t ruling out the possibility of an open flame, such as from a candle, starting the fire.

A lawyer assigned to the family by the Mexican Consulate, Douglas Gessell, said at the time that it was obvious the smoke alarms in the apartment were not working.

It seems every holiday season is marked by a tragic fire such as this one, but often they stem from preventable situations.

Nearly 47,000 fires occur in the U.S. during the winter holidays, claiming more than 500 lives, causing more than 2,200 injuries and costing $554 million in property damage, according to the Red Cross.

So what can residents do to prevent fires during the holidays?

Billy Alcorn, a Merced fire battalion chief, said fire departments always recommend artificial Christmas trees. And if you do choose to get a live tree, make sure it stays saturated with water and doesn’t dry out, he said.

As for any kind of Christmas lights put up on or in your home, Alcorn recommended purchasing UL-certified lights. UL stands for Underwriters Laboratories.

And, of course, he recommends having working smoke alarms in the home.

“Most home-fire fatalities occur at night,” Alcorn said, “so that’s the benefit of having a working smoke alarm – it gives you time to get out in time.”

The fire department suggests having a smoke alarm in every bedroom, outside each sleeping area and on every floor of the home, including the basement. Smoke alarms should be tested once a month.

Newer smoke alarms should last for 10 years, and then they should be replaced.

The Merced Fire Department will even install carbon monoxide and smoke alarms in your home. Even better, it won’t cost you a dime.

This story was originally published December 6, 2015 at 3:00 PM with the headline "Brianna Calix: Remember fire safety to prevent holiday tragedies."