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Article published Mar 6, 2008 Communitywide program sparks interest in fire safety
By Jessica Stith of The Daily Times Staff
East Tennessee Medical Group and local firefighters sparked some interest and got community members fired up about their safety on Wednesday.
It is that time of year again -- "change your clocks; change your (smoke alarm) batteries." Sunday, March 9, is when the Daylight Saving Time change begins, and ETMG and firefighters said that is a perfect time to check smoke detectors as Blount County residents spring their clocks forward.
Rick Carver, respiratory care practitioner at ETMG, invited the firefighters to the business at 266 Joule St., Alcoa, to share information on fire prevention and safety awareness. Carver said the issue hits close to home for him, as his dad was a firefighter.
Carver said his father suffered from severe lung damage, which gave him inspiration to become a respiratory care practitioner. He said he also has a passion for fire prevention and safety awareness because he sees many patients every year who have suffered from smoke inhalation, including firefighters.
"We are doing this in hopes that we can prevent one fire or save one person's life," Carver said.
He said 2007 was a "bad year" for fires, especially with the fire in the home of the Debuty family. Four children died during the fire in the Friendsville house.
"We don't want to see that repeated," Carver said.
Carver said the goals of the event were to try to install smoke detectors in Blount County homes, if the residents do not have a working smoke detector, and to promote overall fire safety awareness.
"If we're capable of saving one life, I think it's worth it," Carver said.
Alcoa Fire Capt. Tom Daffron said they had taken several names and addresses on Wednesday for smoke detector installations. He said that anyone in the county can request the detectors, and firefighters will install them for free.
Daffron said that they had also distributed information to several people, including senior citizens and children. To get children excited about fire safety, Alcoa firefighter Butch Campbell dressed up in an inflatable "Larry the Firefighter" costume measuring 10 feet tall and 5 feet wide.
During the event, firefighters discussed the importance of having a working smoke detector, having a plan on how to react during a fire and making sure there are two ways out of every room in a residence.
"Even if we talk to one person (about fire safety), we may change their way of thinking," Daffron said.
Blount County Fire Lt. Tim Ogle said there should be more than one smoke detector in every residence.
"Ideally, there should be one in every room," Ogle said. "Absolutely minimal -- one on every level."
Ogle said the smoke detectors should be UL (Underwriters Laboratories) approved, and the batteries should be checked monthly. He said firefighters and ETMG held the event in connection with the Daylight Savings Time change because, "It's a good time for folks to remember."
Ogle and Daffron said they are hoping Blount County residents will think of fire safety when they change the time on their clocks Saturday night or early Sunday.