Buffalo Grove Fire Could Have Been 'a Far Worse Tragedy'

A Buffalo Grove family is lucky to be alive after smoke detectors failed to alert it to a kitchen fire in the middle of the night, Buffalo Grove firefighters said. 

“This fire could have resulted in a far worse tragedy than the injuries the homeowner received; all four residents, as well as other families living in the complex, could have perished,” John Gilleran, public education and information officer, said in a press release.

A resident, who was awakened by another noise, sustained minor injuries while extinguishing an early morning fire Dec. 17 on the 700 block of White Pine Road. 

Buffalo Grove firefighters responded at 4:17 a.m. and evacuated the building. Investigators later determined that the fire was caused by a coffee/tea making appliance.

The injured homeowner declined treatment or transport to a hospital.

“The story here is not the fire but the smoke detectors,” Gilleran said.

“As a department we can not put enough emphasis on the need to have working smoke detectors, to test them on a monthly basis and to replace the batteries at least once a year, preferably twice,” Gilleran said. “Also, smoke detectors have been found to only have a functional life of approximately 10 years, after that time they should be replaced. Never remove the batteries from a smoke detector for any reason.”

It is not known whether the smoke detector in the White Pine Road residence had batteries or how old it was, Gilleran said.

The Illinois General Assembly has amended the Smoke Detector Act to require that effective Jan. 1, “if a smoke detector is battery powered, then the battery must be non-replaceable, non-removable, and capable of powering the detector for a minimum of 10 years.”