My heart goes out to these seven innocent children, especially since they did not have to die despite the malfunctioning hot plate and resulting fire. They should have, could have and would have gotten out alive if warned by alarms coming from smoke detectors that could and should have been installed and functioning on both the first and second floors of their house.
I cannot understand how loving, educated and otherwise-intelligent parents, who would presumably “do anything” for their children, do not always protect their very lives with such simple, inexpensive and effective devices. I hope to read about a nationwide “run” on smoke (and carbon monoxide) detectors in the coming days, so that these seven “angels” are the last to ever die so needlessly.
Richard Siegelman
