NATALBANY - One man is encouraging others to check their smoke alarms after he saved not only his life but his godchild's life.

Clifford Walker is saying today, the smoke alarms in his home saved his life before a smoldering attic fire got out of control.

It happened early Saturday morning, around midnight, after he put his five-year-old godchild, Dakyan to bed. 

"I put him on the love seat, took off my clothes, popped some popcorn and dozed off to sleep only to be awakened by my smoke detector," Walker said.

That alarm only went off once, and Walker said he looked around to find something burning, but didn't find a source, so he went back to sleep. 

"I sat down, dozed back off to sleep and all of the smoke detectors, which were newly installed were going off and the house was full of smoke," Walker said.

Walker was able to get himself, his godson, and his two dogs out of the house and call the fire department.

Those smoke alarms had been installed for a little over a week before the fire. 

“If we didn't have working smoke detectors, there would've been loss of life, it could've been a lot worse. Thankful, just thankful," Walker said. "I would advise everybody to, if you don't have one, get one."

The Louisiana State Fire Marshal's Office has been pushing the use of smoke alarms through Operation Save-A-Life program. 73 people were killed in home fires in 2024 and only three of those had working smoke alarms. 

As daylight saving time approaches this weekend, fire officials are encouraging you to check those alarms. If you need alarms and can't afford them, call your local fire department to get them installed for free. 

"If those smoke alarms had not woke him up, and they had not been there we'd probably be in a different situation today," said Michael Polito, Fire Prevention Chief at the Natalbany Fire Department.

Polito said if you do not have a smoke detector in your home and you’re in the Natalbany area, you can call him at (985) 661-7596 to schedule a free installation.