Fire department, Red Cross partner to install free smoke detectors

NORWALK, Conn. – Some South Norwalk residents will be able to sleep easier next week, thanks to the Norwalk Fire Department and American Red Cross.

Those two agencies have partnered to install smoke detectors and provide residents with critical fire prevention and safety information, according to the NFD.

From noon to 4 p.m. Saturday, April 11, teams made up of city fire department staff, public safety cadets, and Red Cross volunteers will go door-to-door in the South Norwalk area to install new smoke detectors in homes and perform home fire safety checks. Residents will also receive fire and home safety information.

The locations for the smoke alarm distribution program are still being finalized, but the focus will be South Norwalk and will be targeted in areas with high incidents of structure fires.

An 85-year-old woman died from injuries sustained in a March 18 fire at 201 Ely Ave. in South Norwalk. That home did have a working smoke detector, according to published reports quoting Norwalk Fire Chief Denis McCarthy.

Teams will install smoke detectors in single and two-family homes. Residents in multi-family homes in the target area, can receive safety information but inspections and installations would be coordinated with the property owner, through the fire marshal’s office.

This event had originally been scheduled for early March but was postponed due to snow.

According to an NFD press release, the goal of the Home Fire Preparedness Campaign is to reduce the number of deaths and injuries caused by home fires by 25 percent in five years. Nationwide, home fires kill an average of seven people every day, and every 40 minutes an injury from a home fire is reported. Roughly 1,000 times every day, fire departments are called to a home fire.

“Smoke detectors are not a luxury but a vital necessity,” McCarthy said. “This partnership is an opportunity to give important safety tips, ensure that current smoke detectors are working (and have charged batteries) and install smoke detectors in homes as needed”

Residents, or groups, interested in volunteering with this event can register with the American Red Cross. Training will be provided the morning of the event from 10 a.m. to noon. To volunteer visit this website.