
It's been a deadly start of the year in St. Paul for fire victims. Seven people have now died in home fires in tying a 30-year record in that city for an entire year by the end of February.
Four of them were children who died following a January house fire in the Payne-Phalen neighborhood. Now, another victim has died after an apartment fire caused by smoking.
Deputy St. Paul Fire Chief Roy Mokosso says it's a tragic reminder to make sure you have working smoke detectors that are actually hooked up.
"You can have a smoke detector with a low battery, and you get that chirping and you don't know which one, you're kind of annoyed, you take it down and you leave it," Mokosso explains. "You say you're going to get a 9-volt battery and you go months before you put it back up."
Mokosso says smokers often stay inside when the weather is cold, which can be especially dangerous.
"If they smoke indoors they might have working smoke detectors that are chirping at them, or alarming, and so they might take those down to not be distracted or annoyed," says Mokosso. "And then you can kind of see that chain of events that can happen."
Smoking is the number one cause of fatal fires in Minnesota according to St. Paul Fire.
Smoke detectors more than 10-years old should be replaced. He says the St. Paul Fire Department offers them for free through their online Safe Haven program, where a firefighter will actually come to your home and install them for you.