Update: Coroner IDs Idaho victim of fatal fire in house without working smoke detectors
A woman died in a residential fire Friday night in the small town of Greenleaf west of Caldwell.
Sherri McKinney, 64, was identified as the victim, the Canyon County Coroner’s Office told the Idaho Statesman on Wednesday. Her cause of death is still pending.
The home at the intersection of Tucker and Lower Pleasant Ridge roads was fully engulfed in flames at 11 p.m. when crews with the Caldwell Fire Department and Wilder Rural Fire Protection District arrived. The female resident was the only person in the single-story home at the time of the fire, Caldwell Fire said in a Tuesday news release.
The home was a total loss, Caldwell Fire Department spokesperson Char Jackson told the Statesman. The cause of the fire remains under investigation, she said.
Smoke detectors throughout the home were not working at the time of the fire, according to the release. The woman’s death was directly attributable to that factor, the Caldwell Fire Department said.
“Smoke alarms that are properly installed and maintained play a vital role in reducing fire deaths and injuries,” the department said in the release. “Fire spreads fast. Working smoke alarms give you early warning so you can get outside quickly.”
About three in five deaths in residential fires occur in homes either without smoke detectors or with alarms that are not operating, Caldwell Fire said. The risk of dying in a residential fire is cut in half when smoke detectors are working as they are intended, the department added.
