Firefighters and state fire marshal staff will be knocking on doors in neighborhoods across Maryland this weekend, Oct. 17-18, to check smoke alarms and install new ones for free where homes need them.
The Office of the State Fire Marshal is running its Fall Statewide Community Risk Reduction Weekend with local fire departments and the American Red Cross, according to an Oct. 15 announcement. Teams will also hand out fire prevention materials and talk with residents about keeping their families safe.
The office did not say which neighborhoods teams will visit, so there is no guarantee they will reach every Southern Maryland street. Residents who need alarms but aren’t visited can contact their local volunteer fire department or request help through the state’s Get Alarmed Maryland program.
Why it matters
The fire marshal’s office pointed to two recent fires in Western Maryland, in Kitzmiller and Rawlings, where families escaped without injury after smoke alarms installed through the program woke them. Both homes had received free alarms through the Kitzmiller and Cresaptown fire departments.
Southern Maryland has seen the same thing. In September, a working smoke alarm alerted a Bryantown resident in time to get out of a burning home with the family’s cats.
This is the first risk reduction weekend for State Fire Marshal Caroll H. Spriggs II, who was named to the post this fall. “These partnerships are essential to preventing fires and saving lives,” Spriggs said.
Safety checklist
The fire marshal’s office recommends these steps for every household:
- Install smoke alarms on every level of the home, inside each bedroom and outside sleeping areas.
- Test alarms monthly, and replace any alarm that is 10 years old or older.
- Sleep with bedroom doors closed; a closed door slows the spread of smoke and fire.
- Plan and practice a home escape route with two ways out of every room and a meeting spot outside.
- If fire breaks out, get out, call 911 and never go back inside.
For fire safety questions, the Office of the State Fire Marshal can be reached at 1-800-525-3124. Anyone with information about a suspicious fire can call the arson hotline at 1-800-492-7529.
