Firemen honored for distributing smoke detectors

By Jessica Coleman
Staff Writer
    Jackson County Emergency Services District 3 and The American Red Cross have teamed up to make sure every home that needs one, has a smoke detector. ESD 3 has installed 400 smoke detectors in Jackson County since the inception of the program, earning them high honors from the Red Cross.    
    At a banquet on July 14, ESD 3 was named as the recipient of the Guardian Award, an honor only given to one organization within the Gulf Coast Region, which expands over 14 counties. 
    “Believe me, there was some stiff competition,” said Debbie Ellsworth, the Disaster Program manager for the Crossroads territory, “We competed against Corpus, Kingsville, big cities. I was just ecstatic.”
    The award is given to an organization or entity that shows exemplary efforts toward emergency preparation for two or more years. 
    The goals of the program are to reduce fatalities and injuries, protect community members, and to create public awareness of fire safety. 
    The smoke alarms provided are 10-year lithium smoke alarms in which the batteries never have to be replaced.    
    “After 10 years, you just throw it away and call us for a new one,” said Ellsworth.
    The Red Cross also has alarms for the hearing impaired.    
    “They have a kind of paddle that goes between the mattress and box spring,” Ellsworth said, “When a fire alarm goes off in the house it shakes the bed, and really loud it says in English and Spanish ‘Fire, get out.’ That is available too, free, from Red Cross.”
    ESD 3 Captain Nick Strauss said they distributed smoke detectors in every way they could think of.
    “We’d go to churches and leave hundreds, thousands of fliers,” Strauss said, “We even went door to door during training meetings.”    
    He added that ESD also checks for smoke detectors when they respond to calls, and if there are none, they make sure to either leave some, or take some back later.    
    The smoke detector program was made possible by a $1.3 billion grant the American Red Cross received, and is a nationwide program. 
    Those in need of a smoke detector can call the Edna Fire Station at 782-3159.