Oct 2, 2008:

SAM’s Club has awarded a $1000 grant to the North Greece Fire Department to continue the Smoke and CO detector outreach program managed by the Career firefighters of North Greece.

Each year in the United States, thousands of people die or are severely injured by fires and burns or CO poisoning. One of the most effective ways to prevent deaths and injuries from fires and CO poisoning is to install and maintain smoke and CO detectors in households.

Home fires are a serious threat to a family's safety. Every year in the United States, approximately 5,000 people are killed and residential fires injure more than 40,000. In addition, home fires do more than $8 billion worth of property damage. Many fire victims die from inhalation of smoke and toxic gases, not because of burns. Most deaths and injuries occur in fires that happen at night while the victims are asleep. Sleepers must be warned before it is too late. When properly installed and maintained, the home smoke detector is one of the best and least expensive ways to provide early warning when a fire begins. Before the concentration of smoke reaches a dangerous level, or before the fire becomes too intense, the alarm will sound. Smoke detectors save lives, prevent injuries and minimize property damage. The risk of dying from fire is twice as high in homes that do not have functioning detectors.

In addition, about 200 people die each year from carbon monoxide poisoning associated with home fuel-burning heating equipment. Carbon monoxide is a colorless, odorless gas that is produced when any fuel is incompletely burned. Symptoms of carbon monoxide poisoning are similar to flu-like illnesses and include dizziness, fatigue, headaches, nausea, and irregular breathing. Carbon monoxide can leak from faulty furnaces or fuel-fired heaters or can be trapped inside by a blocked chimney or flue. Burning charcoal inside the house or running an automobile engine in an attached garage also will produce carbon monoxide in the home.

Residents who have smoke and CO detectors are sometimes not aware that these devices have a limited life and need to be replaced. Education of this fact is important as a potentially non-functioning detector provides a false sense of security.

The North Greece Fire District, Department, Career and Volunteer firefighters are all too aware of these issues and the tragic and avoidable loss of life and have worked to maintain the Career Firefighter program to assist in the preventive protection of our residents. The cost of smoke and CO detectors (especially the cost of CO detectors) restricts the reach of this very valuable program. This grant will be used to purchase smoke and fire detectors to further enable the ongoing Career Firefighter Smoke and CO detector distribution program that will continue to guard both life and property.

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