Scarborough Fire Chief Mike Thurlow

Scarborough,along with Falmouth spearheaded a successful effort to obtain a $250,000 grant. (http://www.scarboroughmaine.org/departments/fire-rescue/news/freesmokeandcarbonmonoxidedetectors)

“The Scarborough Fire Department along with Maine CDC and Southern Maine Community College have received a grant to provide smoke and carbon monoxide detectors to the residents of Scarborough and surrounding communities for free.  This includes detectors for those that are deaf or hearing impaired.  If you would like to put your name on the list to receive these and have a home safety inspection done by the fire department please call 730-4298.”

To date over 500 detectors have been distributed. Besides providing much needed smoke detectors the grant is intended to provide survey data such as numbers of improper installations, inoperable detectors because of missing or depleted batteries, etc. Mike disclosed that fire detectors have a life of about 10 years and should be replaced. (This includes hard wired installations as well.)

Fire detectors should be installed on each floor in addition to being installed in each bedroom. CO2 detectors should be located on each floor where typically they are plugged into a wall receptacle.

There are still units available. Call 730-4290 to arrange for an inspection/installation of your property. All fire trucks carry spare units. The detectors are individual units with a sealed battery that has a 10 year life. Since the firemen are not electricians they do not attempt to service hard wired installations.