By ARLENE JOHNS
JOHNSTOWN — The Richland Township Fire Department next week will launch a program aimed at making sure children are in homes with working smoke detectors.
“Change Your Clock, Change Your Smoke Detector Battery” will focus on students in the Richland, Shade-Central City and St. Benedict elementary schools.
Children in kindergarten through sixth grade will be given a new 9-volt battery along with information for parents on fire safety plans.
In addition to changing their smoke detector batteries, parents will be asked to fill out a short questionnaire to be returned to the school.
If a family does not have a smoke detector, one will be provided by the fire department.
Jason Ober, assistant chief for Richland, said the idea came from a door-to-door survey the department conducted in preparation for a grant.
“It was alarming how many homes did not have a smoke detector or did not have a working smoke detector,” Ober said.
The motivation for the program is simple, he said: “Our focus is to educate people to take a proactive stance and prevent a tragedy in our community.”
The department had sponsors to help pay for the program, including Kabler-Thomas Financial Group, 105 College Park Plaza, Richland; Bryanne Enterprises in Shade Township; and Battery Warehouse, 110 Lundy Lane, Geistown, which provided the batteries for half price.
Ober said it is money well spent.
“The few dollars it will cost us to put on the program will pay huge dividends even if it only protects one person,” he said.
“Smoke detectors save lives.”
