WESTFIELD—As a result of the story first published in The Westfield News July 14, the Westfield Fire Department, American Red Cross and the Council on Aging (COA) worked together to make 34 homes safer in the city.
The Westfield Fire Department and American Red Cross worked together to install over 100 smoke detectors, as well as over 30 carbon monoxide detectors, in 34 homes yesterday. The installations were part of the “Smoke Detector Blitz,” as previously coined by Tina Gorman, director for the COA.
“We couldn’t do this without the support of the Westfield Fire Department and the community,” Westfield Fire Deputy Chief Eric Bishop said.
Brenna Mahoney (L), a benefactor of the “Smoke Detector Blitz,” looks at a carbon monoxide detector with American Red Cross member Vicki Edwards.
“These smoke detectors save lives,” he added.
Bishop said that there was a total of three teams that went to install the smoke detectors in the homes. The teams included members from the American Red Cross, as well as Bishop and fellow Westfield Fire Deputy Chiefs Pat Egloff, Pat Kane, Andy Hart and Mark Devine.
The teams focused on three areas within the city—downtown, the north side of the city in the area of Joseph Avenue and Paper Mill Road and the outskirts of the city, according to American Red Cross member Vicki Edwards.
The COA also worked previously on the project to gather names, addresses and phone numbers of those receiving the detectors.
According to Bishop, all of the homes were built in 1975 of later and were either without smoke detectors or they weren’t operational.
“Many of the homes had nonworking smoke detectors, either nonexistent or not working,” he said. “I feel we made the community safer by doing this.”
Bishop added that one of the reasons that smoke detectors are so important today is because “modern furnishings give you very little time to get out.”
He also said that the Westfield Fire Department hopes to partner with the American Red Cross for another smoke detector installation program on a future date.
