Waco firefighters canvass town to install smoke detectors

June 25--A smoke detector can be the factor that saves lives in the event of a house fire.

Firefighters with the Waco Community Volunteer Fire Department spent Saturday going door-to-door to check and install smoke detectors in homes around town at no cost.

"It gets us out in our community. Plus we're helping the people we serve," Assistant Chief Willie Williams said.

Waco Fire Chief Brent Gordon said typical issues involve homes not having smoke detectors at all, having a smoke detector without batteries and having an out of date detector.

As Waco firefighters knocked on doors, they found some residents who thought their detector was in working order. But as they checked, fire officials found that some were older than 10 years old and considered out of date, so they installed new detectors in those homes.

After about three hours of canvassing the area, the firefighters had installed around 25 smoke detectors in homes in the town of Waco. They then began to reach outside the town limits.

If the local firefighters were to run out of smoke detectors during their canvass, the plan was to continue knocking and adding people to a list so they could return once they get more.

"I'd hate to leave anybody without a smoke detector," Gordon said.

Across the state

The number of fire deaths is on the rise in North Carolina.

So far this year, there have been 91 fire deaths in the state compared to 83 in all of 2017. Many of this year's deaths took place where there was no working smoke alarm present.

Waco was one of nearly 100 departments across North Carolina going door-to-door to check and install smoke detectors Saturday under an effort organized by Insurance Commissioner and State Fire Marshal Mike Causey.

In addition to local fire departments across the state, the Office of the State Fire Marshal joined forces with the American Red Cross and Kidde for the event. Kidde donated 750 of the more than 3,300 smoke alarms installed in the effort.

Canvasses have happened around the state before, but Saturday marked the first attempt to canvass the entire state in one day with free smoke alarm installations, according to Causey. The goal behind Saturday's effort was two-fold.

"We want to educate as many people as possible and more importantly, provide them with smoke alarms and the resources they need to take extra precautions from home fires," Causey said.

A year-round effort

Cleveland County Emergency Management have a program in which each of the fire departments in the county install smoke detectors in homes for free year-round.

All a county resident has to do is call their local fire department or Cleveland County Emergency Management and let them know they need a smoke detector installed.

Gordon wants to make sure local residents are aware they can have a detector installed in their home at no cost at any time. He also hopes to take on more canvassing efforts in the future if possible.

"I think it's important that everybody has a smoke detector in their house," Gordon said.

Casey White can be reached at 704-669-3339 or cwhite@shelbystar.com.

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