Two deadly fires within a month in the Town of Richland in Oswego County have now affected the collective consciousness of the town and many people are making a mad dash to buy smoke detectors.
Eight people died in the first fire in Richland earlier this month and on Friday an elderly Richland woman died when fire swept through her home. In the first fire, investigators say there were no working smoke detectors in the house.
The manager of the Ace Hardware store in Pulaski, one of the few places you can buy a smoke detector in Richland says his store had a run on smoke detectors in the days after the first fire. Mike Deaton says his store also donated 25 smoke detectors to the local fire department as they try to equip every home in the town with the life saving devices.
Action News also ran into Jonnathon Gibbs Friday night. He's a cook at the Hometown Diner in Pulaski. He lives upstairs in an apartment and after the first deadly fire he went out and bought two smoke detectors because his apartment had none. Gibbs said, " I had them installed, just to be on the safe side because you never know what can happen. I didn't have any when it happened and it made me think."
