Edmonds couple whose son died in a Shoreline house fire celebrate the distribution of 6,000 free smoke alarms

Gerry and Bonnie Gibson next to a poster highlighting their nonprofit’s achievement.

Story and photos by Nick Ng

Reprinted from MyEdmondsNews.com

Six thousand. That is how many smoke detectors the Edmonds-based nonprofit Gibson Home Fire Prevention installed before last Christmas in Western Washington – from Tacoma to Blaine near the U.S.-Canadian border. 

Founders Gerry and Bonnie Gibson and their daughter Emily celebrated the milestone Friday night at The Old Spaghetti Factory in Lynnwood with 14 volunteers and guests.

The Gibsons started the nonprofit after their son Greg “Gibby” Gibson died — along with his pitbull Nino — in a Shoreline house fire around 4:30 a.m. on Jan. 8, 2016. The fire was caused by faulty wiring, and the house did not have a smoke detector in the basement where Greg was living.

Greg Gibson with his dog Nino. (Photo courtesy Gibson family)

“Our daughters said, ‘we got to do something,’ Gerry said. “We came up with the idea with a nonprofit and provided smoke alarms. And we tried to get some legislation to require smoke alarms and give penalties if [landlords] don’t provide them.”

After three years of lobbying by family and supporters, the Washington State Legislature in 2019 passed SB 5284 – otherwise known as the Greg “Gibby” Gibson Home Fire Safety Act. 

The bill requires property owners or landlords to provide at least one smoke detector before the buyer or renter occupies the residence. Landlords or property owners can be fined $5,000 if they do not comply. 

Tenants and landlords may also be fined $200 if they do not keep the smoke detectors in good condition. These fines will go into the Smoke Detection Device Awareness Account, which the state fire marshal is in charge of managing.

“After we got the nonprofit going, we went to a friend who worked with the Red Cross and told them about our home fire prevention campaign,” Gerry said. 

“We partnered with them and have people install smoke alarms. Between the Red Cross and our website referrals, that’s how we get our requests for smoke alarms and we go on from there.”

Bonnie said that the family had made many trips over three years to Olympia to push the bill. Gibsons also worked with the Washingon State Association for Justice on another bill – SB 5163 – to repeal a 1917 law that prohibited parents from filing a claim for the wrongful death of their adult child.

“Back in the late 1800s and early 1900s, when the Chinese came over to work on the railroads, if they got hurt or killed on the job, their family back in China could not get any money or any compensation for their death or injury,” Bonnie Gibson said.

During that time, the U.S. still had in place the Chinese Exclusion Act of 1882, which prohibited Chinese laborers from coming to the U.S. While it was originally a 10-year ban, it was made permanent in 1902. In 1943, Congress repealed the act when China was part of the Allies during World War II.

Supporters gather at Lynnwood’s Old Spaghetti Factory to celebrate the installation milestone.

However, the state statute remained almost unchanged for more than 100 years until April 2019, when the state Senate passed SB 5163. That allows parents to file a claim for the wrongful death of their adult child, even if they did not depend on the child for money or did not live on U.S. soil. 

Previously, parents could only sue if they were financially dependent on the person who passed away and resided in the U.S.

Bonnie highlighted the 2016 Ride the Duck fatal accident, when five international students from Asia were killed. The victims’ families were not compensated because of the statute.

“The Washington Association for Justice took that on and solicited other families that had wrongful deaths,” Bonnie said. 

“So we learned how to negotiate and how to handle the legislature from Larry Shannon, who was the head of this. We met with lawmakers. We went to different legislators and told them our story. When you sit there, waiting in this room, and you testify, you don’t know if the legislator next to you will testify for you or against you. It was quite a lesson.”

After SB 5163 was passed, the Gibsons received compensation from Greg’s former landlord’s insurance.

The news of Gibson Home Fire Prevention’s work and activism also reached other states – even in Wisconsin – where people asked Gerry and Bonnie if they could have someone install smoke alarms in their homes. 

“They see us on the website and don’t realize that we’re a small family and volunteer group,” Gerry said. “We have posters in [local] banks, grocery stores, senior centers. We participated in a lot of safety fairs to get the word out.”

Emily Gibson, center, with two volunteers at the celebration dinner in Lynnwood.

Emily, who manages the nonprofit’s social media accounts and volunteer outreach, said that most of the donations were originally from people the Gibsons know. The amount donated was enough to cover their expenses so that they do not have to do a lot of fundraising.

“When we put smoke alarms in people’s homes, a lot would ask where they could donate,” Emily said. “We’re also included in programs from Boeing and Microsoft where the donations are matched.” 

Donations can be made through the nonprofit’s website.

“If you’ve ever known somebody who has died in a home fire or you’ve had an experience with a home fire, share your story because that’s the most impactful way to help people understand the dangers of home fires,” she said.

Gerry said that he would like to hit the mark of 10,000 smoke alarms installed but that may be a few years away. 

“Seven thousand is on the horizon,” Gerry mused. “We do it in Greg’s honor and keep doing it until we drop. It’s helped our family with the grief, and we want to prevent somebody else from going through what we went through.”

If you need a smoke detector installed, contact Gibson Home Fire Prevention.