In early January a house fire in the Seaview neighborhood took a woman’s life. It was tragic and heartbreaking, and my thoughts go out to her family.

The following week, Fire District 1 (FD1), notified me that they were planning a neighborhood meeting at Fire Station 16, just down the street from the location of the fire. The purpose was to invite neighbors to hear from firefighters and fire prevention specialists and to ask any questions that citizens might have.

FD1 holds these neighborhood meetings after every fire in their service area.

I attended the meeting along with about a dozen neighbors as well as representatives of FD1. Their public information officer led the meeting, and the speakers included myself, the fire marshal, the battalion chief (who was at the fire), an assistant fire chief, and FD1’s fire prevention staff.

With the victim’s son in the audience, it was hard to listen to the details of the fire and how it took his mom’s life. But it was done very professionally and with sensitivity.

The fire prevention staff spoke about the need to replace batteries in smoke detectors. This home didn’t have operational detectors, and they spoke about the need to replace the detectors themselves after ten years because their useful life has passed.

FD1 offers new detectors and batteries free of charge, and in some cases will arrange to have them installed. Smoke detectors save lives.

At the close of the meeting, the son of the victim addressed the audience and asked, on behalf of his mom, that everyone please check their smoke detectors. Please heed his heartfelt plea.

I was very impressed with the FD1 staff and their work that night. It is very clear that they are much better funded as a fire department than the Edmonds Fire Department could have ever hoped to be.

Only weeks into our contract with them and I see the benefits already.

I am more confident than ever that the citizens of Edmonds will get great service from them as the years go by.