Some southwestern Connecticut retailers say they have nearly sold out of smoke detectors, five days after the Stamford house fire that killed a senior couple and their three young granddaughters.
Following the Christmas morning blaze, many stores say they were overwhelmed by the number of people buying smoke detectors.
Richard Velez, the owner of Westport Hardware, says customers will have to wait for the next shipment to come in later in the day, or they will have to buy one of their other brands.
Velez says he has never seen a spike in smoke detector sales coming close to this one.
His employees have also seen a dramatic rise in the sale of galvanized trash cans.
Experts say you should use them when disposing of fireplace embers, which authorities say sparked the fire in Stamford.
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