MARTINSVILLE, VA – Residents of a Martinsville neighborhood were surprised on Saturday when they received complimentary smoke alarms courtesy of a collaborative initiative.
Firefighters and volunteers embarked on a door-to-door campaign throughout the Corn Tassel Trail neighborhood, ensuring that every home was equipped with these life-saving devices.
“We don't just hand them out,” American Red Cross Blue Ridge Territory Disaster Program Manager Ralph Lawson told BTW21 News. “We come out and put them in because we want to know that home has been made safer when we leave it that day and so that's what's happening here today.”
Alongside the installations, they also provided education information on fire safety and encouraged residents to protect their households effectively.
“They also have a little pad especially for small kids,” Martinsville Fire & EMS Assistant Fire Chief Dwayne Robertson said. “They can go in there and draw their escape plans and we teach them how they can start doing drills with them.”
This event was a partnership between Martinsville Fire and EMS and the American Red Cross, whose ongoing efforts have been supported by a grant received in 2014.
“...As a bed shaker, we have those units we can install for hard of hearing folks. We have a strobe light if they spend a lot of their time in the living room and need a bright alarm or bright light or screeching alarm. That may assist them or at least let their neighbors know, hey, something's going on next door. Let me go check it out. So there's lots of options there that we've got and all this is free,” Lawson explained.
According to officials, teams installed 105 devices in three hours.
“We try to do it two to three Saturdays a month when weather permits. What's so great is I tell everybody we're putting a firefighter in their home so when that beeps, they got free firefighters already sitting there. They can get out. It makes our job a lot easier. We don't have to worry about the the rescues,” Robertson added.
Residents were reminded of the ongoing opportunity to request free smoke alarm installations by reaching out to Martinsville Fire and EMS and Henry County Public Safety at any time.
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