Jacksonville firefighters installed more than 150 free smoke alarms in the Windergate neighborhood Sunday, Sept. 27, one month after a fire killed three children on the same street.

Crews from the Jacksonville Fire and Rescue Department (JFRD) and American Red Cross volunteers knocked on more than 250 doors, going house to house through the Mandarin neighborhood, as first reported by Action News Jax. JFRD said on its website that neighbors greeted crews and shared how the weeks since the fire had affected them and how they had been looking out for one another.

The walk came one month after an early-morning fire on Wednesday, Aug. 26, tore through a townhome in the 4400 block of Windergate Drive. JFRD Chief Percy Golden II said crews were dispatched at about 5:13 a.m. and arrived four minutes later to find heavy flames and smoke in the two-story home.

Three children died inside.

They were later identified as 10-year-old twins Damiano and Gabriel Manati and 2-year-old Amel Manati, according to News4Jax. Their parents, Gentian and Albana Manati, were hospitalized in critical condition along with a 9-year-old son and a 2-month-old baby.

"The family, the mother, and two kids, the 2-month-old and the 9-year-old, they jumped from the window," Kelly Manati, a cousin, told Action News Jax on Aug. 28. He said the 9-year-old broke a second-floor window to escape and that Albana saved the infant by throwing the baby to a neighbor below.

The fire destroyed the townhome and damaged two nearby units. Thirteen other residents were displaced and received emergency assistance from the American Red Cross. A GoFundMe fundraiser for the Manati family had raised more than $150,000 by late August.

The cause of the Aug. 26 fire remains under investigation by the State Fire Marshal and the Jacksonville Sheriff's Office Homicide Unit. No cause has been publicly determined.

The Sept. 27 walk is part of a broader JFRD prevention effort. The department conducted a similar walk on Ionia Street in March after a fatal fire there, visiting 300 homes and installing 33 smoke alarms, according to JFRD's website. In fiscal year 2024–2025, JFRD installed more than 1,100 smoke alarms and replaced over 300 batteries citywide.

JFRD Lt. Jorge Hernandez told the Southeast Citizens Planning Advisory Committee in March that three out of five fire deaths occur in homes without working alarms. Residents have only two to three minutes to escape before becoming incapacitated, he said.

During a September 2025 community walk in the Division Street neighborhood, Golden said the death rate in reported home fires is 60 percent lower when working smoke alarms are present.

Mandarin residents who want a free smoke alarm or battery replacement can call 904-630-CITY (2489) or visit MyJFRD.com.