Fatal fire in River Plantation

CONROE, Texas - Last week’s fire marked the second fatal fire so far in 2016, and the second fatal fire in the same home on Sandra Court in River Plantation. A similar fire in the same home in March, 2007, also claimed the life of an elderly male. As in that fire, the latest victim perished after being exposed to hot smoke and toxic fire gases.

Investigators from the Montgomery County Fire Marshal’s Office are continuing to investigate the circumstances surrounding the latest fatal residential fire to occur in Montgomery County. Four Montgomery County residents perished due to fire in 2015 and two so far have now died in residential home fires in 2016.

The latest fatal fire struck last Friday afternoon on Sandra Court in the River Plantation subdivision. Just before 7 PM, the victim’s wife saw smoke and reported that a fire had trapped her husband in his home office inside his garage. Firefighters were on scene within minutes, but it appears that the victim had succumbed to smoke inhalation during the early stages of the fire, likely even before it was reported.

Firefighters found the home’s owner, 67 year old Max Mehling, deceased in the garage. Fire Investigators from the Montgomery County Fire Marshal’s Office responded to the scene and began a fire investigation that lasted through the weekend.

During the fire scene examination, Investigators determined that the fire had started in and around an office chair and trash can and that the victim likely died as a result of exposure to the heat, smoke, and toxic gases produced by the fire. An autopsy was conducted over the weekend and preliminary results confirm Investigator’s suspicions as to the cause of his death. Additional lab tests are pending, but MCFMO Investigators suspect that the fire started from smoking materials in and around the office chair and nearby trash can.

An eerily similar fire at this very same home in 2007 also claimed the life of an elderly male resident. That fire occurred on March 7th, 2007, when a sofa chair in the living room was ignited by smoking materials, filling the home with smoke and killing home owner Ronald C. Richardson. As in the most recent fire, there were no working smoke detectors in the home at the time of the 2007 fatal fire.

Each year, as many as 3000 lives are lost on average to fire in the United States, with the majority of these fire deaths occurring in the place we should feel safest, our homes. Smoking related fires continue to be the leading cause of fire deaths, contributing to nearly 20% of all fatal fires each year.

Another common factor found in most fatal fires is the lack of working smoke detectors. Recent surveys have found that although 9 out of 10 homes now have at least one smoke detector, as many as 1/3 of those detectors will not function in the event of a fire due to missing or dead batteries.

The 2007 fatal fire at this home led to a paradigm shift in the approach to home safety in Montgomery County. Shortly after that fire, the Montgomery County Fire Marshal’s Office began urging residents to upgrade their home’s older smoke detectors to new “long-life” style detectors incorporating batteries that can last up to 10 years. In support of the program, then Courier Editor Jim Fredricks, penned an editorial encouraging homeowners to “Change your detectors, Not your batteries”. Since that time, the MCFMO has adopted that slogan and has continued to work with County Fire Departments to promote the use of long life batteries in smoke detectors in hopes of lowering the number of fire fatalities each year in Montgomery County. Although the numbers of fire deaths have declined in recent years from their peak at 9 in 2010, there is still more work to be done.

Fire Officials are calling for action on the part of homeowners and residents to limit the number of deaths due to fire. Many of the County Fire Departments have smoke detector programs in place to assist indigent or elderly homeowners. If you are a homeowner needing assistance, contact your local fire station or the Montgomery County Fire Marshal’s Office for more information.

If you are renting an apartment, house or mobile home, State law requires that your landlord install smoke detectors in your home. After that, each tenant is responsible for maintaining fresh batteries in the detectors and notifying the landlord if the detectors need to be replaced.

Regular alkaline batteries should be replaced at least once a year, and you should replace smoke detectors over 10 years old as they lose their effectiveness over time. Look inside your smoke detector for a printed or stamped date of manufacture. If there is not one, then the detector is most likely over 10 years old and should be replaced.

Having working smoke detectors in your home cuts your chance of dying in a fire IN HALF. Smoke detectors should be placed in every bedroom, hallway and living area of your home. Avoid placing smoke detectors in the kitchen to avoid false activations, instead placing them in nearby rooms.

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Operation Staying Alive: A smoke detector in every room