Firefighters Install Smoke Detectors Free of Charge
This video is no longer available.
HOLLOW ROCK, Tenn. — When you spring forward, West Tennessee firefighters urge you to also check your smoke detectors to make sure they’re working properly. Larry Jarnigin, Chief of the Hollow Rock Fire Department, is trying to get the word out this year. “If they can be alerted that there’s a fire in their home and have the opportunity to get out while the fires small, that’s the key, life safety,” Jarnigin said. Jackson and Hollow Rock are home to just some of the fire departments in the state that are provided with free smoke detectors because of the federal program “Get Alarmed”. The program has provided more than 20,000 alarms, and each one is meant to last 10 years. The “Get Alarmed” program also provides free installation by a firefighter free of charge. “We don’t just come out and put smoke alarms in the home,” Jackson Public Fire Education Coordinator, Rico Bryson, said. “We take the opportunity to help educate. Education is so important as it relates to fire and life safety.” One Hollow Rock family had detectors installed for the first time Saturday. Gabe Dillingham, one of the residents in the home said they hoped it will allow added comfort for their disabled father. “If we’re not here, then, if it does go off then we can know he will be safe,” Dillingham said. In the last year, Hollow Rock and Jackson firefighters report installing 300 alarms. According to the Tennessee.gov website, the “Get Alarmed” program has been credited with saving 50 lives. To find out if your county or city firefighters participate in the Get Alarmed program, contact your local fire department.
