Firefighters install smoke detectors for Warren homeowners

WARREN — The Warren Professional Firefighters Union Local 1383 recently kicked off its smoke detector installation program where Warren homeowners can receive free smoke detectors and one carbon monoxide detector, and have them professionally installed by the Fire Department.

“Our goal is to do 500 houses a year with this program and be compliant with the NFPA,” said Joe Schehr, president of Local 1383.

The NFPA is the National Fire Protection Association, which according to Schehr, sets the standards across the United States for fire safety equipment in homes and businesses.  Currently, the standard for homes is to have a smoke alarm in every bedroom, on every living level and in hallways. Both the smoke and carbon monoxide detectors have a 10-year lithium battery.

“So if there is a fire in the basement that smoke alarm would go off. If there is a fire in a kitchen that hallway detector would sense that alarm,” Schehr said. “We are trying to get overlapping coverage to provide a safe environment for our homeowners.”

Warren has a few fatal fires each year, but the Fire Department is working to eliminate that.

“In Warren, I hate to say it, we normally average about three deaths per year due to smoke inhalation and/or fire-related causes,” said Warren Fire Commissioner Wilburt “Skip” McAdams.  “Our goal is to get to zero.”

Smoke and carbon monoxide detectors save lives, according to professional firefighters.  Only a handful of homes that have had fatal fires had smoke detectors.

“So far this year of the homes in Michigan that have fires where people have died, only 21% of them had a working smoke alarm,” said Schehr.

In Michigan, fatal fires typically occur between 6 p.m. and 6 a.m., when people are sleeping, according to firefighters. Being alerted to a fire by a working smoke detector allows residents to act quickly and retreat to safety.

Deaths by carbon monoxide, also referred to as CO poisoning, is an additional concern.  To stem the tide, one free carbon monoxide detector will be installed per home.

“CO is odorless, colorless, you can’t taste it,” Schehr said, “It unfortunately kills many people throughout the United States and in Michigan (every year).”

“What we recommend and what our team has been doing thus far with the (carbon monoxide detector) installations is we put it near appliances that would be a potential risk for CO,” said Schehr. “For example, a gas-powered furnace, a gas water heater, a gas dryer. Those appliances, if there were a leak or something mechanically wrong with that appliance, that CO detector, because it is nearby, would detect that, alarm and notify the residents, who in turn could call us (the Fire Department) and we would come out and mitigate the situation.”

The smoke detector initiative has been well received by the community. Warren residents Kenneth and Sharon Buddie were among the first to receive the new lithium 10-year battery smoke detectors and carbon monoxide detector.

“It was really nice. We didn’t have to do anything. They (the Fire Department) put them all in and left,” said Sharon Buddie. “I feel safer at night, especially when I am sleeping.”

Kenneth Buddie added that the process took about half an hour for the Fire Department to tour his four-bedroom home and install six smoke detectors — one in each of the bedrooms, one in the basement and one at the front entrance. A carbon monoxide detector was also installed.

“Now I don’t have to worry about the batteries,” said Kenneth Buddie.

Part of the installation process includes sharing safety tips with residents and showing them a video.

The “Close Before You Doze Program” encourages people to close their bedroom door before falling asleep. This limits the hot gasses and heat from entering the bedroom, according to Schehr.

Other safety tips included smokers being cognizant of when and where they smoke.

“If you are a smoker, smoke outside,” said Schehr. “Don’t fall asleep with a cigarette on the couch.”

Smoking has caused some of the fire deaths, according to Schehr.

“We want to limit that as much as we can,” Schehr said.

Warren homeowners can register for the smoke detector installation program by calling (586) 759-9320 or emailing SmokeDetector@warrenfiredept.org, according to the Warren Fire Department’s Facebook page.

According to Schehr, there is no income qualification. The only requirement is being a homeowner in Warren.

The program is powered by a $1 million grant from the state of Michigan to State Fire Marshal Kevin Sehlmeyer and his partnership with MI Prevention, the Warren Fire Department and Warren’s elected officials.

“I was told if we do 500 homes a year, we will be able to do all of our Warren homeowners every 10 years (if the grant is renewed),” Schehr said.