Smoke Alarm Lawsuit Interviews

(MOBILE, Ala.) Aug. 14 -- The family of a little boy killed in a house fire says their landlord and the smoke detector company are to blame. The family of Duke Williams, 11, filed a civil lawsuit Thursday. Duke died this past May in his family's Chickasaw home. The family says known problems with wiring and a bad smoke detector caused Duke's death.

The last words Kennard Williams ever heard from his son are hard to live with: "Daddy, can you please help me? Daddy help me. Help me!"

But the flames were too intense, Kennard couldn't save Duke.

The family says months leading up to the fire, they noticed electrical problems with house.

"In the living room where I'd turn the light on, it'd spark fire. Every time I'd turn it on it'd spark fire," Kennard Williams said.

An inspection report from the Prichard Housing Authority shows known electrical hazards in virtually every room of the house. In the report obtained by NBC 15 News, it states those hazards were supposed to be fixed by the property management company, Keith Realty.

"They said they were going to send someone, send someone, send someone. It'd been three or four months, they never sent no one," Williams said.

"There were just exposed electrical wires inside the walls, which is a blatant electrical code violation," Attorney Richard Taylor said.

The family's attorney says if these issues had been fixed, and if a proper smoke detector had been installed, then Duke would still be alive. He says by filing a lawsuit and forcing companies to make change, hopefully no other father will have to live a son's painful final words.

"I just don't want this to happen with another family," Williams said.

The family's attorney says they just had a basic ionization technology smoke alarm installed, which is slower at detecting smoldering fires. The attorney says they should have also had a photoelectric sensor.

Mobile Fire-Rescue says there has been a long debate about which type of technology is better. Mobile Fire-Rescue says what's really more important is that you have a newer alarm and change the batteries twice a year. We contacted all of the companies named in the suit. No one returned our calls.