Milwaukee Fire Department hands out smoke detectors after deadly fire near 14th and Capitol

MILWAUKEE (CBS 58) -- Seven people have died in fires in the City of Milwaukee this year alone. The latest was at a duplex near 14th and Capitol, where two people died on Saturday, Oct. 12.

Milwaukee fire officials said the top floor where the man and woman died did not have smoke alarms. 

On Tuesday, Oct. 15, Milwaukee firefighters went door to door in that neighborhood to check to see if every home had smoke alarms and if they did not, they installed them for free.

Authorities also checked existing ones to see if they were working properly.

Officials recommend the First Alert alarms that have a ten-year battery life and detect the earliest stages of smoke.

The Milwaukee Fire Department has a “Focus Program” where firefighters inspect 20,000 homes per year for smoke alarms.

“I can’t emphasis enough how important it is and I think how awful it is that we have to talk about two fire deaths when the remedy is so easy and readily available,” Milwaukee Fire Chief Rohfling said.

If you don’t have a working smoke alarm, Chief Rohfling is urging you to call the Milwaukee Fire Department smoke alarm hotline at 414-286-8980 and they will give you free ones and install them.