A door-to-door campaign to install free smoke detectors continued today in the Franklinton neighborhood near downtown Columbus. The program is a joint effort of the American Red Cross, the Columbus Fire Department and volunteers from Nationwide Insurance.
Red Cross volunteer Patty Lehman says Franklinton has had a high fire rate.
“This area has been hit particularly hard recently. There’s been some fatal fires,” Lehman says.
A resident on Bellows Avenue was happy to have new smoke detectors installed. Allison Fisher was asked if her family had an escape plan.
“I think the plan is get out but we don’t have,” Fisher said.
“The first thing to do is to get out and you can call 9-1-1 once you’re outside.”
Firefighter Steve Carna installs detectors with lithium batteries.
“That should be good for ten years. So when you do your weekly check just push the button here like this,” Carna says.
During the past 10 months the Red Cross has installed about 7,400 free smoke alarms in Central Ohio.