 We all know smoke detectors are a great
safety item when installed and operating properly. However when smoke
detectors are not in working condition due to bad batteries or
missing all together, the results can be quite tragic. Recent studies
across the country have shown smoke detector failures over a 10 year
time frame can be as high as 65%. This failure may be due to poor
maintenance, removal of smoke detector or detector not in working
order.
Life Boy Scout De’Ron Pinkston of
Troop 487 in Richmond Va., realized this fact after having seen on
the news several times in quick succession the damages and loss of
life that occurred from homes with missing or non working smoke
detectors. In his own county 8 persons had died within a 6 month
period in which detectors were missing or no longer in working order.
So when it came time to complete a project for his Eagle Scout rank,
he chose to do something about this in his neighborhood. De’Ron
contacted his local fire department, Henrico County Division of Fire
and was placed in contact with Lt. Will Shumate of the Fire Marshal’s
office. Will contacted Bill Jones of FirePro, an AFSA Virginia
Chapter member who had experience in dealing with Boy Scouts and
whose own son achieved Eagle Scout to help plan the project. Will
and Bill met with De’Ron to go over his plan of action and how he
proposed to accomplish his goal of making his neighborhood safer.
Part of De’Ron’s project included making a fire safety flier to
hand out to those in his neighborhood even if they chose not to have
a smoke detector installed. De’Ron also solicited information from
other localities on fires and found in many cases homes having fires
did not have working smoke detectors in 55 – 80% of the cases
matching the national average.
Having worked with the AFSA Va Chapter
on many other worthwhile projects in the past, and not having a
current project ongoing at the time, Bill suggested the chapter
support this endeavor by purchasing the smoke detectors to be
installed. Board Chairman Mike Mehean presented this to the Virginia
Chapter Board of Directors and it was agreed to help support De’Ron’s
effort by purchasing the needed materials.
De’Ron was now set up to begin
soliciting homes in his neighborhood in which to install smoke
detectors and to provide fire safety messages. In some he found
detectors in working order but others either missing entirely or no
longer working. In one home where no detector was found, the owner
explained “ his dogs would awaken him” in the event of a
fire. It was explained that the dogs might also be overcome with
smoke and therefore could not help him. The owner decided to add them
“just to be safe”. In another home the occupants said they
“ had never given any thought to having one”
On April 10th, De’Ron and
his team of installers along with firefighters from Henrico Fire
Station # 8, headed by Lt Cousins, began the job of installing smoke
detectors in homes which were previously canvassed and found to have
missing or not in working order smoke detectors. When completed, the
team installed 30 new detectors in homes and visited many others
spreading the word of fire safety as they went.
De’Ron in his Eagle Scout application
write up, explained the reason this was important to him. “Think
about what could be avoided if we take the time to learn about safety
in the home. By doing something about it, by having smoke detectors
and keeping up with it.”
De’Ron completed his project and will
be awarded his Eagle Scout award soon. He plans to attend James
Madison University in Harrisonburg, Va on a music scholarship when he
graduates high school. His hope is that in some small way his
efforts might just save a life that could have been lost without his
project moving forward. De’Ron states “having the support of
Henrico Fire and the Va Chapter of AFSA, I hope will bring a change
for the better”.
Bill Jones
FirePro, Inc
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