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Smoke Detector “Give Away Day” a Success
By frhayes | July 23, 2008
The smoke detector “Give Away” Day held on June 21, 2008 from 9:00 A.M. to 5:00 P.M. was a major success with a total of approximately 906 smoke detectors given away, with a maximum of two (2) smoke detectors being distributed for each residence in the City of Long Beach to those individuals who visited one of the Long Beach Fire Department Stations during this time period. The break down per District of how many smoke detectors where disseminated is the following:
Districts Smoke Detectors
1 65
2 63
3 95
4 72
5 256
6 102
7 95
8 66
9 92
As Emphasized before, this simple, yet effective tool has proven to save lives. Statistics show that properly installed and maintained smoke alarms in the home are considered one of the best and least expensive means of providing an early warning of a potentially deadly fire. Smoke alarms save lives, prevent injuries, and minimize property damage by enabling residents to detect fires early in their development. Statistics show that the risk of dying from fires in homes without smoke alarms is approximately twice as high as in homes that have working smoke alarms.
In fact as reported in the Press Telegram on Monday, June 30, 2008, at 6:31 A.M. Long Beach Fire Department (LBFD) units responded to the report of a structure fire in the 2800 block of Vista Street. There was one resident at home at the time of the fire, a 78 year old woman, she stated that ” the smoke detector in my hall way was what alerted me to the fire, I made my way into the kitchen and saw flames coming from the water heater closet, it was amazing how fast the fire spread, the smoke was so dark, I was barely able to get out of the house before the smoke became to thick to breath”.
The smoke detector helped “save a life” in this structure fire and even though it was not one that was given out during the smoke detector “give away” day. This is a prime example of how this event could help save a life in the future.
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