CLARKSVILLE, Tenn. – (CLARKSVILLENOW) The Tennessee State Fire Marshal’s Office (SFMO), Tennessee River Chapter of the American Red Cross and firefighters with Clarksville Fire Rescue installed free smoke alarms in homes in the north Clarksville area Saturday.
Working in conjunction with approximately 30 local volunteers, 166 free smoke alarms were installed in homes in north Clarksville in the area around Cunningham Lane and Britton Springs Rd. The door-to-door event is part of the SFMO’s “Get Alarmed, Tennessee!” program which aims to prevent fire deaths in Tennessee through the provision of smoke alarms and fire prevention education.
The canvass was organized in response to a fatal fire on Mills Drive in Clarksville that killed a mother and her daughter on January 2. There were likely no working smoke alarms in the home.
Executive Director of the local Red Cross, Katy Hagstrom talked about the smoke alarm program. These are efforts to make these neighborhoods that may be at risk for house fires more safe. We’ve seen that installing smoke alarms significantly increases the chance of people to get out of their homes safely during a fire,” said Hagstrom.
Since the “Get Alarmed” program’s inception in 2012, the SFMO has distributed over 160,000 smoke alarms statewide to 514 partnering organizations and have documented 218 lives saved from an installed “Get Alarmed!” smoke alarm.
If you live in Clarksville and need a smoke alarm, please utilize the SFMO’s online alarm request form or contact SFMO Community Risk Reduction Coordinator Alex Daugherty at 615-574-0240 For more information on “Get Alarmed, Tennessee!” and smoke alarms you can also contact the American Red Cross at 931-645-6401 or Clarksville Fire Rescue at 931-645-7456.