No batteries in smoke detector where child died in fire
A smoke detector in a duplex where a 3-year-old girl died in a Sunday night fire didn't work because it had no batteries, authorities said Wednesday.
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Nevaeh Pratt died when a fire swept through a duplex off Murchison Road. Her father, Kenneth Pratt, remains in critical condition at the North Carolina Jaycee Burn Center at UNC Hospitals in Chapel Hill, with third-degree burns over 50 percent of his body.
Investigators said the fire started in the kitchen, but they haven't yet pinpointed a cause. Relatives have said they think a faulty stove was to blame.
Commander Ron Lewis of the Fayetteville Fire Department said a smoke detector in the duplex had no batteries. State law requires that rental properties have working smoke alarms.
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