Fire chiefs stress importance of life-saving smoke alarms

March 27--POTTSVILLE -- Smoke alarms save lives and help firefighters when installed throughout a residence.

"They cost little, but they do a pretty big job. They protect your life," Schuylkill Haven Assistant Fire Chief Jim Reed said Monday.

Firefighters said there is no specific answer to why some people do not install smoke alarms. Answers range from apathy, perceived cost and the noise they make when the battery needs changing. They said they are easily available and are the best line of defense.

Pottsville Fire Chief James E. Misstishin Sr. said a working smoke alarm is the cheapest insurance one can have. Misstishin said perhaps people have the mistaken belief that a fire will not happen to them.

"They just don't understand. They really do save lives," Misstishin said.

He talked about a fatal house fire on Mother's Day 2013 in Pottsville that claimed the lives of four children and two adults. The home did not have smoke detectors.

"Working smoke detectors in that house would have saved lives that night," Misstishin said.

"Help us help you," Frank Zangari, Girardville fire chief and president of the Schuylkill County Fire Chiefs Association, said Monday.

Zangari said there should be an alarm on every floor of a residence and in every bedroom. The noise from a smoke alarm can provide you the warning needed to escape a fire unharmed. Carbon monoxide detectors are also important.

Zangari said there have been 49 fire deaths in 2018 in Pennsylvania, which is the second highest in the nation. This year is the 20th anniversary of a fatal house fire in Girardville in April 1998 where two boys died. The home had working smoke alarms but not throughout the entire house, Zangari said.

"Fire has no conscience. It just wants to destroy," he said.

About 2,000 people die in residential fires each year, according to the Consumer Product Safety Commission.

The Tri-County Chapter of the American Red Cross and local fire departments are having free smoke alarm installations this year. On Saturday, the Red Cross is having a free giveaway from 9:30 a.m. to 3 p.m. in Ringtown. As of Monday, 30 people have signed up to receive free smoke alarms, Patty Daley, disaster captain of the Tri-County Chapter of the American Red Cross, said.

Other smoke alarm installations are scheduled for April 21 in Girardville, Mahanoy Plane and Gilberton, Sept. 15 in Pine Grove and Oct. 6 in Pottsville. Contact the American Red Cross at 800- Red Cross or 1-610-533-0496. Pottsville residents may also contact City Hall for smoke alarms.

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