I think this is an important example of why it's important to have working smoking alarms in your home and not to smoke in bed or while dozing.

Man, child die in house fire

A man and a 10-year-old girl died in a house fire overnight, and the girl's mother was clinging to life this morning.

Donald Jones, Patricia Lawhorn and Kim Lawhorn, 10, were overcome by smoke as they slept in an upstairs apartment at 1301 Fourth St., Jackson Fire Chief Larry Bosell said at the scene.

Foote Hospital officials confirmed Jones and Kim died of apparent smoke inhalation.

A University of Michigan Hospital spokeswoman said Patricia Lawhorn was in critical condition this morning.

Bosell said the fire appears to have started in a couch in the second-floor apartment.

"It looks like careless use of smoking material," Bosell said. "The sad thing is that this could have been prevented with a working smoke alarm."

The alarm had been disabled or was broken, he said.

Jackson firefighters found the victims in a bedroom on the home's second floor and carried them on stretchers into ambulances that took them to Foote Hospital. None could be seen moving as they were taken outside.

"It's going to be rough on these guys," Bosell said of the firefighters who found the victims. "It's nothing you can ever prepare for."

Update #1--Donald C. Jones was smoking on a couch when he apparently fell asleep, starting a fire that killed him and a 10-year-old girl early Friday morning, a fire marshal said.

Update #2-- A third person, 43-year-old Patricia Lawhorn, has died in the fire that started on Friday.

How sad! The whole family wiped out because the smoke alarm wasn't working. Here are some on Amazon.com just as an example for price comparison. The least expensive is under $7. Not counting tax, each of these people are dead over $2.33, that's terrible. I'm sure now, their family would gladly pay that to have them back, but it's too late.

Plus I'm pretty sure that the Fire Department gives out free detectors if you can't afford to buy them. I'm not sure if it was a certain program or if it's all the time. Any which way, there is no excuse for not having one, especially if you smoke in the house. And if you smoke and sleep. Of course everyone thinks it won't happen to them, but it can. I'm sure this man didn't think he was going to kill himself and murder two other people. But he did.

I feel bad because I still haven't bought a carbon monoxcide alarm. I should get one this week so I can have the guys working on the basement put it up for me. Tomorrow I'll test my smoke alarms too. Most times it's recommended to change the batteries during Daylight Savings but I don't do that. They last longer than 6 months.