By: Charles Romans
Carter County Times
If you’re in need of a smoke detector for your Grayson area home, we’ve got some good news for you. The Red Cross and the Grayson Fire Department will be visiting homes and installing free smoke detectors on Saturday, September 12, from around 10 am to 3 pm. The new smoke detectors will have lithium-ion batteries that, unlike standard models, do not need regular monitoring and are expected to have an effective life of around ten years. This eliminates the need to periodically change the batteries seen in older models. Anyone interested in taking advantage of the free fire safety devices can simply call 1-800-Red Cross.
“We will be centrally located at the Grayson Fire Department,” Devon Urevick of the Red Cross said of how the event will be organized. “That’s our staging ground where all Red Cross teams will meet up.”
Urevick said that there will be a kick off of sorts where the teams all get situated and prepare for a day of smoke detector installation and fire safety education.
“Then,” he said, “we plan to get them out the door by ten and start doing those installs.”
They’ll do the work in teams, he explained.
“We will be having teams of two or three Red Crossers going out on a specific route,” Urevick said.
The routes, he explained, are built around those individuals who have called in requesting the new smoke detectors.
“The volunteers go to each house provided to them, knock on the door, and see if the residents are home. Then, of course, they do the installation of the smoke detectors.”
Of the volunteers, one group member actually installs the device while another volunteer provides education to the residents about fire safety. The third member, Urevick said, takes everything down on paper.
“While the installer works on the installation, the educator provides the resident with useful tips and tricks to keep everyone in the home safe. We want to make sure they (the resident) knows how to prevent fires.”
“Our teams are well trained in determining the best places to install smoke detectors in homes,” Urevick continued. “They know where the ‘blind spots’ are, and the places where the smoke won’t reach. They know to keep it (the detector) a certain distance from the kitchen, so it doesn’t set off unnecessarily. And the fortunate thing about our detectors is that they need no battery replacement.”
Urevick said the battery life of the new detectors adds another level of peace of mind to those who have them installed.
“They don’t have to worry about ever forgetting to replace the battery. And that can be an issue because we find frequently when we go into homes to install new smoke detectors, the resident says they have multiple detectors. But when we check them, there may only be one detector that is still working. One will still have a battery, but the others have been removed at some point.”
Urevick said that situation can potentially offer a false sense of security because the homeowner believes they have multiple detection devices when they in fact do not. This potential issue, especially when combined with older models of detectors that may no longer be working properly even with a fully charged battery, can leave the home vulnerable.
“That scenario can pose a pretty significant risk,” he said.
“Another issue with older detectors is the fact that the filters can become clogged and they won’t detect a fire even if the batteries have been regularly changed. It’s good to update,” Urevick added. “You don’t want to think that you can just replace batteries indefinitely. Bugs, dust, and other things can block the filter the detector uses to detect fires, and that is something people don’t normally consider.”
Urevick recommends that everyone take advantage of the Red Cross’s free smoke detector program, and that they also take advantage of all the fire prevention programs offered by local fire departments and other organizations.
Contact the writer at charles@cartercountytimes.com
