Fire chiefs to buy home smoke detectors

DAVE MOSIER/independent editor

More than anyone, other than loved ones, firefighters mourn the loss of life caused by a fatal fire — especially young children who die needlessly when their deaths could have been prevented.

Now, Van Wert County fire chiefs are working on a project they hope will keep young county residents from ever again becoming fire victims.

The chiefs came together at the Van Wert Fire Department Thursday to kick off their No Child Sleeps Unprotected project. The goal of the project is to purchase smoke alarms for every county residence where school-age children live.

“It’s probably the first time the county chiefs have done anything of this magnitude,” said Van Wert Fire Chief Jim Steele, “but it’s probably the most important thing we have done.”

Chief Steele joined six village fire chiefs at Thursday’s kick-off news conference. Scott Fire Chief Scott Klopfenstein couldn’t attend, but his department is also part of the initiative, which has the goal of putting a fire alarm in every house where a school-age child lives.

Nationwide fire statistics are alarming: an estimated 405,000 residential fires annually, causing nearly 3,600 deaths, 18,600 injuries, some serious, and $4.7 billion in property loss. In Ohio, 184 people died in fires in 2008, the latest year for which statistics are available. Moreover, only 19 percent of Ohio homes hit by fire had smoke detectors, and 73 percent of those were not operational, usually because the battery was dead or missing.

Experts say that an operating smoke detector will increase survivability rates by 50 percent and decrease property damage by 92 percent.

“All of these deaths can be prevented,” Willshire Fire Chief D’wight Sheets said. “This is one of the best projects we have ever come up with in the county, and I hope the residents and corporate people will come together and support us to help save a lot of lives.”

The project seeks to raise approximately $60,000 the first year, which would be used to purchase an estimated 4,500 smoke alarms with 10-year batteries. Additional funding would be sought annually to provide alarms for residences of new students. The decision to purchase smoke detectors with 10-year batteries was one local fire chiefs say they made from their own experience of finding countless fire alarms without batteries while sifting through fire debris.

“All of us have been impacted by fire fatalities at some time or another, and in some parts of the county it has been too frequent,” Chief Steele said. “Once is too frequent.”

Other chiefs agreed.

“In my career, I have been involved in three fatalities involving children, and in two of these situations, there were no smoke detectors in the house,” Convoy Fire Chief Gary Kreischer said. “I think this is a great opportunity for the villages, city and county to come together and work for one common goal.”

Middle Point Fire Chief Craig King, who is also a Van Wert fire captain, called smoke alarms, “the cheapest thing you can do to save a life”.

“Children are getting a night watchman for 10 years, 24/7, because that thing never sleeps,” he added.

“A parent’s biggest thing is to protect their child, but we often overlook the obvious,” said Ohio City Fire Chief Brandon Bowen, adding that many people don’t think of smoke detectors until it’s too late.

“We have had a lot of fatalities the least 10-15 years in our territory, many of which were children,” said Willshire Fire Chief Jackie Brandt. “By putting (smoke detectors) in the home of the children, you are protecting many more people than just the children.”

Chief Steele added that the chiefs are working with Van Wert Fire Equipment to purchase the fire detectors, noting that the local company has worked with its suppliers to provide smoke detectors “at an unbelievably competitive price.”

The Van Wert fire chief said the goal is to have all detectors purchased and delivered by “Fire Protection Week” in October. Each individual department will be responsible for distributing the detectors in their area of operations, while all of the chiefs said they would be happy to assist homeowners in installing the devices, if needed.

Also at the news conference was Van Wert County Foundation Executive Secretary Seth Baker. The foundation has provided a donation of $2,000 as seed money for the program, while also agreeing to administer a fund created especially for the project. Donations can be sent to the foundation at 138 E. Main St., Van Wert, OH 45891. Checks should be made out to “County Smoke Detector Fund.”

While the fire chiefs all said they hope local businesses get behind the program, Chief Steele said private individuals would likely be the backbone of the project.

“In our opinion, this thing lives or dies on the individual person,” the Van Wert chief said of the No Child Sleeps Unprotected project.