Greenville City firefighters will conduct a smoke alarm blitz on Earle Street this Saturday, January 3 from 10 a.m. to 12 p.m. to check homes for working smoke alarms, help residents develop a fire escape plan and provide additional fire safety information. For homes without working smoke alarms, the firefighters will install 10-year lithium battery smoke alarms for free.
Over the past eight months, the Greenville City Fire Department has partnered with agencies such as Parker District Fire Department, Gantt District Fire Department and the American Red Cross to conduct smoke alarm blitzes in neighborhoods all over the city, and has installed nearly 800 smoke alarms. In several cases, the blitzes took place in neighborhoods where structure fires had recently occurred.
According to the National Fire Protection Association (NFPA), almost two-thirds of all home fire deaths resulted from fires in homes with no smoke alarms or no working smoke alarms. NFPA research shows that having a working smoke alarm cuts the chances of dying in a reported fire in half, and the goal of the Greenville City Fire Department’s community outreach campaign is to increase the number of residences with working smoke alarms. With fire-related deaths at a three-year high in South Carolina, the smoke alarm blitzes also provide a unique opportunity for firefighters to teach city residents about fire safety in their own homes.
For more information, contact Will Broscious, Community Risk Coordinator, at 467-5753 (o), 631-4316 (c) or wbroscious@greenvillesc.gov.
