15-Month-Old Boy Dies in First Fatal Fire of the Year in Rockford

Rockford, IL - John Giglio says his three dogs, Freddie, Princess, and Rocky, were his smoke alarm early Saturday morning. "I was sleeping during the night in the lower level, and at about 4 o`clock in the morning, the dogs started barking," says Giglio, owner of the two-floor building at 510 Walnut St. When he smelled the smoke and ran outside, he immediately called 911. The fire department found flames and smoke billowing from the window of the upstairs apartment. Four people, including two children, were able to make it out safely, but they were unable to save the 15-month-old toddler, William Gary. Initial reports show there were no smoke alarms in the apartment, but Giglio says thats not true. "The smoke detectors were up in the divide. Oh yes, they were there," says Giglio. "It`s just they were direct-wired because I don`t like batteries because you can never tell about batteries." Giglio says the problem was that his tenant had a problem with the electric company. "They were direct-wired smoke detectors," says Giglio. "You have to have electricity on in order for them to work, and his electricity, I didn`t know it, had not been on." Investigators say during the initial investigation of the scene they didnt find any smoke detectors. "I didn`t see any smoke detectors in the apartment. Not a hard wire or battery," says Brian Watkins, investigator for the Rockford Fire Department. "I saw the spot where one would be located, but couldn`t find it anywhere." Watkins says buildings that use direct-wired smoke detectors should always have a battery back-up. That way Freddie, Princess, and Rockys barks are a last resort. Fire investigators plan to go back to the scene on Monday to try to determine a cause. Its been almost a year since the last fatal fire in Rockford. It happened on the citys near east side in November. A 52-year-old man and his four dogs died in their house at 1312 S. 6th St. The cause of that fire was careless smoking. There were a total of three Rockford fire fatalities in 2005.