Dozens of Seniors Get Smoke Detectors

Orange County firefighters are offering senior citizens throughout the county free smoke detectors and free installation.

Under a new program funded by a federal grant, the Orange County Fire Authority already has distributed more than 100 smoke detectors to senior citizens, officials announced this week.

The program, a joint venture between the county’s Council on Aging and the Fire Authority, began a month ago after several senior citizens who did not have smoke detectors were injured in fires. As recently as Dec. 16, a woman was critically injured when her mobile home caught fire, said Capt. Scott Brown, spokesman for the Fire Authority.

“We’ve said over and over again that a smoke detector is the most important factor in saving lives,” Brown said. “And our efforts, through this program, centers around that fact.”

The grant is enough to buy 1,600 detectors.

Among those who have received a new smoke detector are Howard and Juliana Nagel, both 76, of Westminster. The couple have lived in their two-story home since 1975 and they have a smoke detector upstairs, but none downstairs, Juliana Nagel said.

“One time, I had the fireplace on and I forgot to open the vent, and by the time the smoke reaches the upstairs smoke detector, the downstairs area was already heavily involved in smoke,” she said. “Now we have a smoke detector downstairs, and that won’t happen again.”

Seniors who would like a smoke detector are invited to call (714) 567-7500.