Firefighters picking through the embers of two fatal holiday fires Thursday found themselves repeating an all-too-familiar message: Get smoke detectors. And make sure they work.
The batteries were missing from smoke detectors in a Mountain View home where a 31-year-old mother died Christmas Eve, investigators said.
And the inexpensive devices were missing completely from an East Palo Alto home where a 5-year-old boy died waiting for his presents early Christmas morning. The boy's 13-year-old aunt died of her injuries Thursday evening.
The cause of each blaze remains under investigation, although both appear to be accidental, fire investigators said. And in each case, investigators said, working smoke detectors might have made the difference between life and death.
The Santa Clara County Medical Examiner/Coroner identified the Mountain View victim as Cyntia Siqueira, whose husband, sister and infant son remained in Santa Clara Valley Medical Center Thursday.
Siqueira was killed by burns and smoke inhalation, the coroner found -- the same type of injuries her family suffered, and the type that investigators said a smoke alarm can help prevent.
"I think it would have given them a better chance just by giving them more alert time," Mountain View Fire Department spokesman Lynn Brown said. "When you do wake up, you're already pretty much impaired. I've seen fires where if you stand up, the toxics in the air would have killed you right there."
Autopsy results were not yet available for 5-year-old Hopate Sanft, who died in the Christmas morning fire in East Palo Alto.
His aunt, Luseane "Lucy" Sanft, 13, died Thursday evening at Lucile Packard Children's Hospital at Stanford, according to hospital officials.
Harold Schapelhouman, division chief of the Menlo Park Fire District, said smoke alarms would "absolutely" have helped alert residents to the predawn fire, which investigators believe spread from a fireplace near where the little boy slept.
"Typically, we have almost complete room involvement in anywhere from a minute and a half to two minutes," said Schapelhouman, whose district conducted live fire demonstrations using candles and Christmas trees earlier this month to highlight the dangers during the holidays.
"Once the smoke detector goes off, which is usually in the first 60 seconds,
there's time for the residents of the home to get out before the home is engulfed," he said.
Nevertheless, too many homes in East Palo Alto and Menlo Park remain without working smoke alarms, Schapelhouman said, despite the district's extensive program to install, replace or retrofit smoke alarms, burglar bars, and double-key locks -- for free.
The program was launched after a 1997 fire that killed nine people, including five children, just blocks from the Sanfts' home.
"It certainly is frustrating where five years later, we're doing it all over again," Schapelhouman said.
But East Palo Alto is hardly unique in that regard. Seasonal or permanent smoke detector programs exist in many cities around the Bay Area and beyond, and California -- like many other states -- has laws requiring smoke detectors outside each sleeping area of a dwelling.
Partly as a result of those type of efforts, 94 percent of homes in the United States now have at least one smoke alarm, according to the nonprofit National Fire Protection Association. Half of all home deaths occur in the 6 percent of homes without detectors.
But when firefighters responded to reports of fires in homes with smoke detectors, they discovered the fire alarms were not working 30 percent of the time -- usually because of missing or dead batteries.
"It's a $20 piece of technology that really needs to be in every single residence in the United States," said Fremont Fire Department Division Chief Vic Valdez. "In this day and age, with clearly a wide understanding among the public, to still have this happening is just a tragedy."
Fremont and some other departments have responded to the maintenance problem by creating programs where volunteers will visit homes every six months to check smoke detectors. Firefighters recommend checking the alarms and replacing batteries at least that frequently.
But ultimately, Schapelhouman said, firefighters can do only so much.
"People do need to take responsibility for themselves," he said. "That's the bottom line."
Menlo Park Fire Protection District firefighters have started a fund to benefit the Sanft family. Those wishing to donate to the fund can send money to the fire district at 300 Middlefield Road, Menlo Park CA 94025. Donations should be made to the Emmett Way Fire Fund. With questions, call (650) 688- 8400.
Free smoke detectors
Many fire departments, including the ones listed below, offer free smoke detectors and installation to their cities' residents who qualify. For more details contact your local fire department.
Berkeley: Offers residents in single-family dwellings one free smoke detector and installation. (510) 981-5585.
San Jose: Offers one free smoke detector to low-income residents at local fire stations. (408) 277-2878
Emeryville: Offers free smoke detectors to any resident at fire stations. Installation may be available. (510) 596-3750.
El Cerrito: Will supply and install a free smoke detector for the elderly, disabled or needy. (510) 215-4450.
Fremont: Volunteers will install free smoke detectors in the homes of at- risk, low-income residents, and will return every 6 months to replace the batteries if resident requests. (510) 494-4644.
Santa Clara County: Will provide information on free smoke detectors to needy residents of Campbell, Cupertino, Los Altos, Los Altos Hills, Los Gatos, Monte Sereno, Morgan Hill, parts of Saratoga, and the unincorporated county. (408) 378-4010.
Daly City: Will provide free smoke detectors to seniors and low-income residents. (650) 991-8138.
San Rafael: Will provide a free smoke detector and installation to senior citizens. (415) 485-3304.
Santa Clara: Provides smoke detectors for any resident, and will help install them for seniors and the disabled. (408) 615-4970.
Contra Costa County: Will provide and install free smoke detectors, or replace detectors more than 10 years old, for senior citizen homeowners in the boundaries of the county fire district. (925) 930-2124.
Menlo Park/East Palo Alto: Will remove or retrofit window bars, install free smoke detectors, change out double-keyed locks. (650) 688-8400.
Matthew B. Stannard, Chronicle Staff
E-mail Matthew B. Stannard at mstannard@sfchronicle.com.
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Saturday, February 4, 2012