BANGOR, Maine — It takes just minutes for smoke and flames to fill a home and threaten lives, so local firefighters and members of the American Red Cross in Maine were out Saturday installing free fire detectors.
“The whole point is to make sure each house has a smoke detector — they do save lives,” Bangor fire Assistant Chief Dennis Nadeau said Saturday after the group finished.
Red Cross volunteers and firefighters, led by Assistant Fire Chief Anthony Riitano, went door-to-door looking for homes without the life-saving devices, focusing this year on the city’s “tree streets” between Stillwater Avenue and State Street.
“Smoke alarms provide an early warning when a home fire starts, and combined with an emergency escape plan, greatly increase your odds of getting out of the house safely,” Danielle Hardre, a Red Cross disaster program manager for Northern and Eastern Maine, said in a news release.
Over the last two years, the Red Cross in Maine has installed more than 3,500 smoke alarms in homes throughout the state. Red Cross volunteers also educate residents about fire safety, creating emergency escape plans and the importance of having working smoke alarms, which increase the odds of someone surviving a home fire by 50 percent.
The Bangor event was part of the Red Cross’ National Home Fire Campaign.
Nadeau said fire alarms, which became required in the 1990s for new homes or major renovations, are sometimes missing from Bangor’s historic homes.
“It is alarming that there are still houses that don’t have them,” Nadeau said.
He said that “it doesn’t matter if you live in a mobile home or a $300,000 home, it is better to be alerted to a fire” so people and their pets get more time to escape.
Nadeau also suggested homeowners get interconnected smoke detectors, which all trigger if one detects smoke.
“Everything you have is in that home,” he said. “Interconnected systems are the way to go. If there is a fire in the basement, you’ll hear it in the bedroom.”
He added that if the expense of hiring an electrician to install the interconnected detectors is a barrier, there also are wireless systems available at home improvement stores that cost less.
“It’s obviously a safety issue and we’re just glad we were able to help,” Nadeau said.
Those who would like more information about getting a Red Cross home fire safety visit can visit MaineRedCross.org or call 941-2903 ext. 113.