Fire Safety Devices Offered Free To Those In Need
The town has acquired a limited supply of battery-operated smoke detectors and carbon monoxide (CO) detectors for free distribution to people who would have difficulty purchasing such devices, according to Fire Marshal Bill Halstead.
The detectors are manufactured by Kidde, a fire safety products company.
Mr Halstead said that the town recently obtained the detectors at the Operation Save A Life 2015 event held at the New Haven Fire Department Training Center. It is the first time the town is offering such fire safety devices free to those in need, he said.
Mr Halstead said he hopes that elderly people and others who may have difficulty buying such safety gear take advantage of the town’s providing the devices free of charge. Instructions on how to use the smoke detectors and CO detectors are included within those items’ packaging, he said.
The smoke detectors contain a permanent sealed battery that is rated for ten years of service, he said. After ten years, the devices should be discarded and replaced with new devices, he said.
The packaging for the CO detectors contains three replaceable AA batteries which are used to power the device. CO detectors are rated for a seven-year service life, after which they should be discarded and replaced with new gear.
As a general rule, replaceable batteries used in the fire safety products should be replaced every six months — when people are resynchronizing their clocks for Daylight Saving Time and for Standard Time.
Mr Halstead said that the limited supply of detectors will be offered to residents on a first-come, first-served basis.
“A smoke detector and a carbon monoxide detector are just such great lifesaving devices that every home should have them,” Mr Halstead said.
“My main goal is to get these [devices] out to people who don’t have them,” he said.
People who want the devices will need to pick them up at the fire marshal’s office at Newtown Municipal Center at 3 Primrose Street. Office hours are Mondays through Fridays from 8 am to 4:30 pm. The telephone number is 203-270-4370.