The Cape Code family insists on mandatory checks on smoke and carbon monoxide detectors after a devastating tragedy at Airbnb in New York.
35-year-old Shannon Hubbard and her 1-year-old daughter Maggie Hubard were killed in a fire in this rent in Clinton, New York, last October.
Housing owners, Dennis and Meredith Darcy, are accused of second -degree murder of being claimed to have been lying to the presence of smoke detectors on the Airbnb list.
Tim Waldron of Orleans told Boston 25 news that the death of his daughter and his granddaughter prompted him to stand up for the safety of other families.
Waldron recently testified to his heartbeat and urgent concern for others in the hearing of the State House for Maggie Hubard Safety Act.
It will require that all short -term rents at Massachusetts be inspected to comply with approved smoke and carbon monoxide detectors within one year before renting.
“I realized that each of the cities had different laws, so it was a very patchwork,” Waldron said.
Waldron sat down with Boston 25 news about what was his daughter’s 36th birthday.
The elementary teacher at Chatham and her infant daughter died afterwards, which was a beautiful family weekend in the short rental.
It took a heartbreaking turn after Waldron left Sunday afternoon.
That evening, Waldron’s son -in -law, a police officer from Dennis, put a wooden corpse in the wood stove and then went out to the hot tub with Shannon.
“They were there for about 20, 30 minutes, they just really enjoyed the night while the kids were. After about 20 or 30 minutes, they smelled smoke,” Waldron said.
Shannon rushed into the room where their infant daughter was sleeping and grabbed.
Her husband and their three -year -old son escaped, but firefighters failed to save Shannon and Maggie on time.
Later, fire investigators have determined that the home has no working fire alarms, contrary to what the AirBNB list indicates.
“If the smoke detectors had passed that evening, they would hear them 20 or 30 minutes before they smelled smoke and it would not be a problem,” he said.
Waldron is now determined to expose what he calls an unregulated system for the self -reading of smoke and carbon monoxide detectors for short -term rents.
He believes that travelers cannot trust what the list of Airbnb and VRBO says because there are no checks to prove it.
“We’re talking about something that can prevent death,” Waldron explained. “You must have some level of inspection performed by an individual for fire safety.”
Orleans Hadley State Hadley Lyli submitted the Maggie Hubard Rental Safety Act to the House of Representatives, and Cape Julian Sir Senator handed it to the Senate.
“Safety measures are simply not really not observed at a level, which actually guarantees that we can enter buildings or rental situations and know we are safe,” said reporter Ludi with the fourth Barnstable region.
The area of ​​respectively. Ludi extends from Harwich to Provincestown, where the number of short -term rents has increased by thousands in recent years.
She said a large percentage of them were not registered in cities.
“We don’t want to see any more unnecessary deaths like the two lives lost here,” the legislator said for the first time. “If I could be part of knowing that there would be more situations in the future, that would mean a lot to me personally.”
Reporter Crazy works with the firefighters and managers of the Cape to determine who would make these checks.
She told Boston 25 News that this may vary in any community and will probably include a fee for those who list short -term rents.
The State Fire Marshall Service issued the following statement to Boston 25 news in support of the legislation:
“Working alarms for smoke and carbon monoxide prevent countless tragedies in Massachusetts and around the world. They are vital tools for the safety of life and must be installed at every level of any living space, whether short -term, long -term or permanent.”
“This reminds them that there are steps that you need to take to need to play I’s and cross your T to make sure that the home you hire people is as safe as possible,” Waldron said.
Waldron said that this law would also mean that his daughter’s inheritance and her granddaughter’s name live forever, protecting others.
“My granddaughter was perfect, right? She had a beautiful smile. She had the best giggles. If you saw or hear any of them, you would never forget it,” he added. “This is a loss that I will carry with me every day.”
Boston 25 News turned to Airbnb and VRBO for comment and have not heard.
The owners of the New York Airbnb Rental have pleaded guilty to second -degree murder.
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