HAMMOND - The Office of the State Fire Marshal says a man and his five-year-old godchild are living proof of the importance of smoke alarms. 

On Saturday, Mar. 1, Clifford Walker, 66, and his godson were woken up just after midnight by their newly-installed smoke alarms going off. They were able to escape the home and call the fire department before flames in Walker's attic got out of control. 

“We would much rather share stories like Clifford Walker’s that prove that working smoke alarms do save lives than to keep sharing all of the stories of lives lost in homes that had no smoke alarms,” said State Fire Marshal Chief Bryan Adams. “Last year, we lost 73 Louisianans in residential fires. Only three of those had working smoke alarms.

"Every home should have working smoke alarms. Now is the perfect time to make sure those devices in your home are, in fact, working.”

The OSFM says spring is a good time to check your smoke alarms for both battery and age. If your alarms are older than 10 years, it's recommended to get a new system.