14 October 2013–Magnolia Texas. The Magnolia Volunteer Fire Department is pleased to announce the award of a Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) grant to supply free smoke detectors with long-life lithium ion batteries to residents of neighborhoods served by the Magnolia Volunteer Fire Department.
The purpose of this FEMA grant, which was awarded through the Fire Prevention and Safety program, is to provide free smoke detectors to the residents of Magnolia area neighborhoods at a very low cost to the department. The effort is aimed at reducing fire losses to personal property and fire related deaths within the community.
Fire Chief Gary Vincent stated “We are thrilled that the Magnolia Volunteer Fire Department was selected by FEMA for this significant life saving initiative. The importance of having working smoke detectors in each and every home cannot be underestimated. Working smoke detectors are critical to saving lives and reducing fire loss. Each year, many preventable fire deaths occur due to either non-working or the absence of smoke detectors in the home.”
The free smoke detectors provided for by this grant are state of the art dual sensor photoelectric and ionization alarms with a long-life lithium ion battery and will provide an increased margin of safety to the citizens. “The FEMA grant is a cost sharing grant with 80% of the cost of the smoke detectors paid by FEMA and 20% paid by the Department” Chief Vincent said.
Several years ago the Magnolia Fire Department (MVFD) determined there was a significant problem within the community. The issue was the excessively high number of residential homes that lacked working smoke detectors. MVFD began using donated funds and local community matching grants to purchase smoke detectors and offered free delivery and installation to Magnolia area residents. The department also utilized door -to-door efforts, public education events, and the semi-annual Change Your Clocks, Change Your Batteries campaign to pass out and install the free smoke alarms.
Assistant Fire Chief Rusty Griffith, the author of the FEMA grant application, stated “The Magnolia Volunteer Fire Department will begin a door-to-door smoke detector and home fire safety campaign in area neighborhoods.
We will also utilize the MVFD web site, social media, the news media and our local fire stations to reach out to the community to make the free smoke detectors available to our community.”
Those citizens interested in the free smoke detector being offered can call the main station at 281-356-3288 or they can visit the smoke detector page on the Magnolia Volunteer Fire Department web site at www.magnoliafire.org. Citizens may also visit the U.S. Fire Administration website at http://www.usfa.fema.gov/campaigns/smokealarms/alarms/index.shtm for more information on smoke detectors.
The Magnolia Volunteer Fire Department, funded by Montgomery County ESD #10, is a progressive Fire Department providing fire suppression, medical first responder, and other emergency services in Magnolia, Texas. MVFD currently serves an area of approximately 165 square miles, encompassing approximately 70,000 residents, and over 500 businesses. The department manages over 4000 emergency incidents annually.
