Man Credits STOP-FYRE® with Saving His Family from House Fire

At AKE Safety Equipment, we have spent the past 32 years obsessed with fire safety and protection. Whether it’s the home, the farm, or one of the many fire departments we supply, we always put our customers first. Fire is a serious danger and concern for every community. Home fires are more common than you think and can be caused in so many different ways.

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Today we want to share two stories that are near to our hearts and together, hand in hand, fuel why we do what we do. In early 2011, a Mennonite couple lived on a Pennsylvania dairy farm with their 6 children. The father drove a milk truck early in the morning and worked on their family farm. The mother milked the cows and took care of their children.

Early one morning, the mother is in the barn milking cows when their 2-year-old runs out of the house. The small child runs up to the mother and tells her the house is on fire.

5 of their 6 children died that morning. The house had no smoke alarms or fire extinguisher.

After hearing this story, AKE founder and CEO Allen Kronebusch made a point to connect with more Mennonite and Amish communities to encourage fire safety. He decided that for every STOP-FYRE extinguisher sold, he would give away a free smoke alarm. That’s when Allen met Lawrence Zimmerman of Wisconsin.

In a meeting of over 60 people, Allen taught the group about fire safety and fire protection. Lawrence purchased 5 STOP-FYRE extinguishers and also received 5 smoke alarms, which he distributed to other family members to put into their homes. He put a fire alarm in his own home as well, where he lived with his wife and 5 kids ages 2-12 years old. The family did not have a smoke alarm or extinguisher in their house before that.

Fast forward to October 2015, Lawrence awoke at 1 a.m. to a loud beeping noise. He quickly noticed the thick black smoke around him and realized his house was on fire! With a flashlight in one hand and a STOP-FYRE extinguisher in the other, he navigated through the smoke-filled hallways and was able to rescue and guide his entire family out of the house. He then went back in and used STOP-FYRE to extinguish the fire that started from a fuse box.

Lawrence recalled the fire that night, attributing STOP-FYRE’s pistol-grip feature as one of the reasons he was able to save his family and put out the fire. He praised STOP-FYRE saying, “If I didn’t have STOP-FYRE, my family would be dead. $600 on a fire extinguisher doesn’t seem like that much for anything when it comes to keeping your family safe. I’m definitely going to purchase more.”

As Lawrence Zimmerman of Wisconsin will tell you, a house fire is the last thing you expect to happen. Make sure your family stays protected with fire safety equipment.

Shop our pistol-grip handheld fire extinguishers now.