GREENFIELD — Weeks after local firefighters installed two new smoke detectors inside an east side Greenfield home during their inaugural detector blitz in 2016, the house caught fire.
The family of five made it out safely in the overnight blaze thanks to the sound of their new alarms, but Brian Lott, fire marshal for the Greenfield Fire Territory, said he always wonders what could’ve happened if volunteers hadn’t knocked on that door and realized the house had no working smoke alarms.
“They all could have perished in that fire,” he said. “The program is already saving lives.”
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Click here to purchase photos from this galleryFor the fifth time in three years, they’re at it again.
More than 50 volunteers gathered together Thursday evening for a Greenfield Fire Territory smoke detector blitz. The group, split into 14 teams, knocked on nearly 800 doors in the northwest quadrant of downtown Greenfield, offering residents smoke detectors free of charge as well as fire safety tips.
Lott said the group installed 124 smoke detectors as well as four bed shaker fire detectors for those who are hearing impaired in about 2½ hours Thursday. Poor weather postponed the detector blitz twice in the past month and a half.
Lott said he regularly visits homes without working smoke detectors. Some have detectors but no batteries. Others have no detectors at all. One year, he visited the home of a married couple who had lived in the same house for more than 50 years but didn’t have a detector. Volunteers quickly installed two.
The smoke detectors have 10-year batteries and are supplied through the American Red Cross Sound the Alarm program. Smoke detector batteries should be replaced twice a year, and the devices should be replaced every 10 years.
“This is probably the most important project we do as a fire department because it literally saves lives,” Lott said.
Dave and Barbara Anders, members of Rotary Club of Greenfield, have helped at each smoke detector blitz. Barbara Anders said it’s a way to “pay it forward” and make sure more residents remain safe.
The Anderses, joined by Eastern Hancock High School junior Tyler Cavaletto and Christopher Myer, a 14-year career firefighter, checked on homes along Noble Street, between Park Avenue and Main Street.
They installed two smoke detectors in Art Williams’s home. He only knew of one detector near his kitchen, so the group screwed in one near a cluster of bedrooms and second in the den. Williams said he hadn’t paid attention to the number of alarms in his house, adding he was appreciative of the help.
Tyler, 16, and several of his teammates on Eastern Hancock’s football team came to the blitz to fulfill community service hours.
Volunteers knocked on doors between Broadway and State streets from Park Avenue to Main Street as well as a couple hundred homes near Oak Boulevard and Noble Street north of Harris Elementary School. Lott estimates blitz participants have reached some 2,500 homes in Greenfield and installed 800 detectors.
Firefighters also left door hangers on about half of the homes they visited, Lott said, letting the homeowners who weren’t present know that they can contact the fire territory if they need a detector. Between blitzes, Lott said he typically installs detectors for one to two families each week in the city.
Lott said the territory aims to have three or four more blitzes over the next few years to make sure each older Greenfield homes have working battery-operated smoke detectors.
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Is your smoke detector working?
The Federal Emergency Management Agency recommends the following maintenance tips for your smoke alarms.
Smoke alarm powered by a nine-volt battery
- Test the alarm monthly.
- Replace the batteries at least once every year.
- Replace the entire smoke alarm every 10 years.
Smoke alarm powered by a 10-year lithium (or “long-life”) battery
- Test the alarm monthly.
- Since you cannot (and should not) replace the lithium battery, replace the entire smoke alarm according to the manufacturer’s instructions.
Smoke alarm that is hardwired into your home’s electrical system
- Test the alarm monthly.
- Replace the backup battery at least once every year.
- Replace the entire smoke alarm every 10 years.
Source: FEMA
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According to The American Red Cross:
- 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.
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