HANCOCK COUNTY — It’s one of the most important jobs fire departments do each year: installing free smoke detectors for area residents.
Officials with the Greenfield Fire Territory and Sugar Creek Township Fire Department will be hitting the streets in the coming days to install hundreds of free smoke detectors for local residents as part of the American Red Cross Sound the Alarm program.
The Red Cross provides the local fire departments with the battery-powered smoke detectors, and department officials, along with volunteers, visit homes to install them. The campaign is designed to reduce fire-related deaths and injuries.
Giving back to the community is one of the things firefighters love to do, said Corey Breese, public information officer for the Greenfield Fire Territory.
“We don’t get a chance to interact with the community a lot of times, and when we do, we usually see people on their worst day,” Breese said.
Launched in 2014, the national Red Cross program has already installed 1,623,358 smoke alarms. This year’s national Sound the Alarm program lasts from April 27 to May 12. Locally, firefighters and volunteers are expected to install several hundred with the help of officials from the Greenfield Fire Territory, the Sugar Creek department and volunteers.
Officials from the Sugar Creek department will start this year’s campaign with installations from 10 a.m. to 3 p.m. Saturday, April 27, and again Saturday, May 11, at the same time. Greenfield fire officials have set their Smoke Detector Blitz campaign for Thursday, May 2. That program will occur in the evening.
During the department’s Smoke Detector Blitz, they’ll cover a square area defined from the south side of Main Street, on the north side to McKenzie Road, on the east side to State Street, and on the west side to Broadway St.
Greenfield fire marshal Brian Lott hopes they’ll be able to make contact with as many of the homeowners in that area as they can, an estimated 1,000 homes with 15 installation crews.
“This is probably the most important project this fire department does,” Lott said. “It’s literally saving lives.”
The Red Cross says seven people die every day in home fires. An additional 36 people are injured. Most of those deaths and injuries, the organization says, happen in homes that don’t have smoke detectors. The Red Cross estimates more than 550 lives have been saved since it began its campaign.
This will be the third year in a row Greenfield Fire Territory officials have taken part in the Smoke Detector Blitz program with the goal of installing the devices in as many neighborhoods as they can.
“Before this program is considered a success, we’ll hit every neighborhood in the city of Greenfield,” Breese said.
Even the firefighters who have shifts on the days of the blitz will take part. They’ll drive their trucks to the neighborhoods and knock on doors ahead of time to alert folks the installation crews are coming.
Both groups are asking for volunteers to help with the installation process. Anyone interested in helping Greenfield officials needs to be at 17 West South Street, Greenfield, at the fire station training room by 5:30 p.m. May 2. More information is available by calling Lott at 317-325-1505 or emailing him at [email protected].
If they can’t get at least 40 volunteers, it could reduce the number of residents they’re able to help, Lott said.
Sugar Creek officials are encouraging anyone with questions to reach out to Beth Gulley at [email protected] or call 317-861-2066.
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On average:
-7 people die every day from a home fire, most impacting children and the elderly.
-36 people suffer injuries as a result of home fires every day
-Over $7 billion in property damage occurs every year
Source: The American Red Cross
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