| Free alarms can save lives |
The coordinator of a program that installs free smoke detectors in Bridgeport homes said the program is making a difference in people's lives. |
| Steve Pereira, who oversees Safe Neighborhoods AmeriCorps Partnership (SNAP), recently discovered a house that had contained a SNAP-installed smoke detector. The house was destroyed by fire. "I called the fire department and asked about the elderly woman who had lived there," Pereira said. "'Did she survive?' The answer was, 'Yes, because of a smoke detector.' " Although all public safety experts agree that smoke detectors save lives, many homes still don't have them. Even in residences with detectors, many people don't replace the batteries when they run out, or they disconnect alarms because they consider them a nuisance. Last year was a particularly devastating one when it came to fire deaths in Bridgeport. In one neighborhood alone, two fires killed five children and two mothers. The SNAP program, run by the Regional Youth/Adult Substance Abuse Project (RYASAP), has more than 5,000 detectors with 10-year lithium batteries available for Bridgeport residents. The free service includes installation. Pereira said he and his AmeriCorps team hope the detectors will soon be installed in Bridgeport residences because the likelihood of fire increases during winter. Due to the rising cost of fuel, more low-income families turn to the dangerous practice of heating homes with gas stove burners. During the holidays, Christmas trees and candles greatly increase the danger. Pereira said the city's Grants Office secured a Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) grant for 4,000 detectors, and the Bridgeport Fire Department purchased 1,800 more. "Ninety-eight percent of the homes we've visited have no smoke detector protection," Pereira said. With the availability of free detectors, Pereira is optimistic the situation will improve. "These units, with their long-life batteries, will impact the city for 10 years and no doubt save lives," he said. Pereira said that although 5,800 detectors may seem like a lot, "They won't make a dent in the need," he said. "There are as many as 50,000 residential apartments or homes in the city." Pereira said his SNAP team of five men and three women are advertising the program by putting 15,000 door hangers on city homes that say, "Smoke Alarms Save Lives." Also, 25,000 pieces of literature have been mailed in the city, and the Lamar Advertising Co. donated a billboard on Boston Avenue. Funding for publicity and other aspects of the program come from a few sources. "We raise money from insurance companies that save money [as a result of] smoke detectors," Pereira said. The program also has received donations from General Electric and Sikorsky Aircraft, and many vendors give them discounts on needed materials. Fire prevention advice Fred Reynolds of Bridgeport is one of eight AmeriCorps Safe Homes members who work on the smoke detector installation program. The SNAP program is part of the AmeriCorps Safe Homes initiative. Reynolds said that when smoke detectors are installed through SNAP, staff members explain fire prevention procedures to the occupants. "We teach families to have an escape plan, how to use fire extinguishers, tell them to crawl under the heat and to touch a door knob for heat before opening a door," Reynolds said. Eileen Noonan, another Safe Homes team member, offered a stark but probably realistic view of the city's fire safety situation. "There are a lot of crumbly Bridgeport houses, and if there is a fire in them, [the people inside] probably are not going to get out," she said. Ideally, smoke detectors are installed outside each bedroom and on a ceiling or wall on every floor. Pereira has led the Safe Homes initiative since 1994, after a career in the security business. "I came from Brooklyn to attend the University of Bridgeport," he said. "After graduating with a degree in electrical engineering in 1979, I decided to stay here." The local AmeriCorps program has 32 people working in a variety of jobs. The federally funded program puts people to work on community service projects. In Bridgeport, 14 AmeriCorps members are full time, and 18 are part time. Full-time AmeriCorps members are paid $10,600 a year and receive a $4,725 stipend for education expenses, while part-timers get half of that. The average age of AmeriCorps members is 30. Noonan, now in her second year of full-time service, plans to return to attend Housatonic Community College this fall, then to join the Peace Corps for two years. Reynolds serves part time in AmeriCorps while studying to be a counselor and personal physical trainer at Housatonic. AmeriCorps members are taught basic carpentry, locksmith and electrical skills that qualify them to install dead-bolt locks, door peep-holes and outside motion-detecting lights so people's homes are less susceptible to crime. The Safe Homes program began in 1994 as a way to fight crime in Bridgeport's East Side and East End, with services targeted toward senior citizens. The program now is citywide and assists at-risk people, single parents, crime victims and battered women, but anybody can ask for and receive smoke detectors through SNAP. Other programs offered through Safe Homes have been put on hold until all the smoke alarms are distributed. Bridgeport residents who want smoke detectors installed in their homes should call SNAP at 576-2727 or e-mail SafeNeighborhoodsAmeriCorps@yahoo.com. |
| ©Hometown Publications 2006 |