WHAT a tragic headline: 'Two die in fire' on the front page of last Saturday's Evening Press.

Whatever caused the blaze is irrelevant to the fact that a young mum and her daughter lost their lives.

It is such a tragedy because a smoke detector was found among the debris, but it didn't have a battery fitted. I checked the batteries in my smoke detectors that night and I have to admit they were long overdue for changing.

If it weren't for this tragic story, and the stark warning from Trevor Lund of North Yorkshire Fire Service, it could have been my family making the news because I wouldn't have given my smoke detectors a second thought. Check your smoke detector today because, as the saying goes: "Tomorrow never comes!"

P R Willey,

Burnholme Drive,

Heworth, York.

Updated: 11:14 Wednesday, August 06, 2003