JACKSONVILLE, Fla. – The daylight saving time change also means it’s also time to change batteries in your smoke detectors.
That’s what Jacksonville’s mayor and fire chief were out doing Thursday in a Northside neighborhood. News4JAX was there as they talked with homeowners and also gave them new smoke detectors to those who need them to make sure they are safe.
Mayor Lenny Curry, Fire Chief Keith Powers and others from the Jacksonville Fire and Rescue Department went door to door, handing out smoke detectors, after two people were pulled from a house fire over the weekend in the Ribault area.
This is part of a program that the city has now been doing for a while. The city has been going to various neighbors where fires have broken out. News4JAX was told more than 200 smoke detectors have been handed out. It’s a program that the city says is working.
Curry and Powers knocked on the door of Lavonne Young and told her they were offering free smoke detectors, which she gladly accepted. It was her neighbor’s house that caught fire over the weekend -- something she said has not happened in the 30 plus years she has lived in this Ribault neighborhood.
Young said she did have a smoke detector previously, but it wasn’t working. When asked what she thinks of this program, she said: “I think it’s perfect. I think it’s a great thing for the community.”
Powers laid out some sobering statics about why this is important.
“When you have a working smoke detector, it reduces the chance of dying in a fire by 55%. That is a huge number,” Powers said. “You know, three out of five deaths that occur in a home with a fire are in homes that do not have a working smoke detector.”
The city is not stopping with this program. There is a new position with JFRD to make sure that fire safety is a priority.
The smoke detectors are available for anyone in Jacksonville -- no matter your income. For a free smoke detector or to arrange to have the batteries in an existing device replaced, call 904-630-CITY (2489) or 904-255-3286.