This past December 2013, many of us learned of the tragic death of Dr. Thomas Babson and his 8 year old daughter caused by a fire that destroyed their Fox Island home. I had the pleasure of working with Tom while we both served with the Pierce County Sheriff’s Department.
With this tragedy still fresh on my mind, I did not hesitate to take advantage of an offer made by our loyal West Pierce Fire & Rescue (WPF&R).
WPF&R is the beneficiary of a grant that is funding the purchase and installation of smoke alarms with a 10-year battery life. If you reside in Lakewood or University Place I suggest you call to see if you qualify for the free smoke alarm program.
You may qualify if just one of the following criteria apply to you:
- You have no smoke alarm(s).
- You have smoke alarm(s), but they are 10 years old or older.
- You have smoke alarm(s), but your alarm(s) is defective.
- You do not have a smoke alarm INSIDE each sleeping area.
In our case all of our smoke alarms met the decade-test including our battery operated and hardwire alarms.
A phone call to Rachel Adler at 253-983-4569 will get the ball rolling. What follows is a mutually convenient appointment to install your free smoke alarms.
On the day of our appointment a man-size bright fire-engine-red pickup truck pulled into our driveway. There were no men inside the man-size truck. Two home-owner friendly women, Rachel Adler and Battalion Chief Hallie McCurdy, from West Pierce Fire and Rescue, jumped out with a blue bucket of new smoke alarms and short wood step ladder.
They installed four smoke alarms in our home. The first alarm was installed in our hallway. The new hall alarm is designed to not be overly sensitive to cooking smoke and cooking steam.
They installed three more, one inside each sleeping area. We normally sleep in the master bedroom, but decided to install an alarm inside two other rooms that are used for sleeping when we have a guest(s) sleeping in our home. We now have 4 new free alarms with 10-year batteries that should be good until the year 2024.
t is an extra layer of safety and a good feeling to have an alarm inside each sleeping area. I refer to this as the belt and suspenders approach. We always depended solely on the hallway smoke alarm.
If your home qualifies for this free smoke alarm program, there is no reason to not take advantage of our fire department’s offer, other than procrastination or the belief, “A fire would never happen in my home.”
Procrastination and denial are two enemies that can kill you, a family member or friend. You have nothing to lose if you make the call and everything to lose if you fail to make the call. Call Rachel at 253-983-4569 right now before her supply runs out. She or her voice mail is available 24 / 7 / 365. Oh, did I mention everything is free?
When you call, let Rachel know The Suburban Times informed you about the new program.
Thank you Joe, so far I have had 3 people call and schedule an appointment after reading this!
This has been on my “to do” list for months, ever since West Pierce announced their generous offer. Thanks to this article, I just left Rachel a voicemail, asking for an appt.
I’ve mentioned this free program to several people, and am amazed at how few are aware of it. They ask me where I heard about this “inside information,” and I tell them I’ve read about it – repeatedly – in our City of U.P. newsletter and West Pierce Fire & Rescue’s “The Monitor.”
It must be very discouraging to our local government officials and dedicated public safety officers to find that so often their valiant attempts to keep citizens informed are falling on deaf ears. We like to believe that we have an informed citizenry, but we’re kidding ourselves.
Yes, our daily mail includes ads, flyers, catalogs, charitable appeals, and mail we classify as “junk.” But newsletters from our city, our Public Safety departments, our public utilities, our library and our school district deserve to be read – however cursorily. They inform us how our taxes are being spent. And they also bring the lucky few – their careful readers – valuable surprises such as free smoke alarms. Ignorance is not bliss.
Joe, I hope some of the folks who ignored or trashed their newsletters are regular “West Side Story” readers and will finally take advantage of this free program, as we are doing. Thanks for the reminder!