« Deaf students provided with resources | Main | Deaf woman sentenced for making harassing phone calls »
October 9, 2007
Deaf man's death in fire worries advocate
An advocate for the deaf wonders if a New Glasgow man would be alive today if his apartment building had a special fire alarm.
Donald Marshall, 65, was killed early Wednesday morning when a fire broke out in his apartment building on Gerald Street.
A couple in a ground-floor unit escaped when a neighbour knocked on windows, yelling for everyone inside to get out.
Susan Fraser, an advocate for the deaf, said she has requested the New Glasgow fire department supply special alarms for low-income deaf people like Marshall.
The devices have strobe lights and a siren and are mounted on the outside of a building to alert others to a fire. They cost about $400.
But for years, she said, the department has refused.
"A smoke alarm could have potentially saved his life," Fraser told CBC News.
Darrell Feit, chair of the Pictou County Deaf Society, said the New Glasgow fire department was asked specifically to supply Marshall with one of these alarms because the pensioner could not afford one.
Fire Chief Russell Mosher had no comment when he was asked if a fire alarm for the deaf might have saved Marshall's life.
These devices are not mandatory in Nova Scotia.
http://www.cbc.ca/canada/nova-scotia/story/2007/10/04/deaf-fire.html
Posted by 4HL on October 9, 2007 3:50 AM
Send this article to a friend