IMLAY CITY — A week ago Imlay City Fire Dept. Capt. Scott Stone was a little nervous about his plan to replace smoke detectors in the Maple Grove Mobile Home Community, where four children lost their lives as a result of a fire in February.
He only had a handful of volunteers then, but Saturday morning he was all smiles when nearly 50 volunteers showed up at the Imlay City fire hall on East Third Street.
Fire Chief Rick Horton said twice as many people as he expected showed up. “This is unbelievable,” he said.
“It’s Saturday. It’s nice out. There are 100 other places you could be,” Horton told the assembled volunteers, “but you choose to be here.”
Along with eight firefighters from their own department, Imlay City had volunteers come from fire departments in Almont, Dryden, Attica Township and Burlington Township.
“It’s a good program, a good cause,” said Chris Herzog, a fire fighter and medical first responder from Almont.
“The more the merrier,” said Dryden Assistant Fire Chief Keith Klobucar, who noted his department will be doing something similar May 11.
Jennifer Bellanger, who grew up in Imlay City but lives in Lapeer now, said a lot of residents said they had fire alarms when they first knocked, but when they checked they found most were too old or didn’t work.
Stone said crews working the neighborhood found working smoke detectors in only half the homes they checked.
Angela Barragan, who lives in one of the 150 residences that received a new smoke detector, she and her three children are safer now.
Volunteers knocked on every door in the neighborhood and at homes where no one answered, they left a sticker with a phone number where people could call to have someone come back to check their alarms.
Although the push to replace smoke detectors in the neighborhood was the result of a fire in February that claimed the lives of four children, State Fire Marshal Kevin Sehlmeyer said 70 percent of all fatal fire victims since 2017 have been over the age of 40.
He noted 28% of these fatalities occurred between 6 p.m. and midnight and 36% of the deaths happened between midnight and 6 a.m. Sehlmeyer said the 60- to 69-year-old age group is most at risk for a fire death. The leading cause of fatal home fires is smoking.
The National Fire Protection Association (NFPA) recommends a smoke alarm in every bedroom, the hallway leading to bedrooms and one in the main living areas as well as at least one on every level of a multi-level home.
Forty-six volunteers on Saturday installed 576 smoke detectors and 71 carbon monoxide alarms after checking 150 mobile homes.
Since February’s fatal fire, Stone said the department has received more than $11,000 in cash donations and smoke detectors. In addition to the 2,800 smoke detectors, the department acquired 70 carbon monoxide detectors and 1,500 9-volt batteries.
Anyone in Imlay City or Imlay Township who doesn’t have a working smoke detector in their home can call Imlay City Fire Dept. at 810-724-6262 to schedule an appointment to have a firefighter stop by an install as many as needed for free.