Fairfax County Fire and Rescue Department
4100 Chain Bridge Rd, Fairfax, Virginia 22030
Phone: 703-246-3801, TTY 703-385-4419 and Fax: 703-385-1687
www.fairfaxcounty.gov/fire

09/14/2006

State agency to provide over 10,000 smoke alarms statewide

State agency to provide over 10,000 smoke alarms statewide

RICHMOND, VIRGINIA: – The Virginia Department of Fire Programs (VDFP) will distribute over 10,000 smoke alarms to thirty-six jurisdictions throughout the Commonwealth of Virginia beginning September 19th as part of the “Be Fire Safe, Virginia Smoke Alarm Installation and Education Project.” The project is funded and sponsored by VDFP and the Virginia Fire Services Board (VFSB).

Smoke alarms will be provided to the jurisdictions for installation, free of charge, in residential households that do not already have adequate smoke alarm coverage as defined by National Fire Protection Association (NFPA) standards. Additionally, free home fire safety and smoke alarm maintenance information will be provided to the jurisdictions for use in providing fire safety education to the residents of homes where the alarms are installed.

The first jurisdictions to receive the smoke alarms will be Fairfax County Fire & Rescue Department, Alexandria Fire Department and Manassas Volunteer Fire Department. They will receive their allocation of smoke alarms on September 19th at 10:00 a.m. at the Fairfax County Fire & Rescue Department warehouse located at 6800A Industrial Boulevard, Springfield, VA. Local media are encouraged to attend this event to find out more about the project.

“We’re thrilled to be able to provide these smoke alarms to communities throughout the Commonwealth,” says W. G. “Billy” Shelton, Jr., VDFP Executive Director. “It’s all about saving lives. Research shows that the chances of dying in a residential fire are cut in half when a working smoke alarm is properly installed and operating.”

Distribution of all 10,000 smoke alarms will take place at regional events throughout Virginia by the end of October. A full list of jurisdictions receiving smoke alarms and a schedule of location, date and time of the regional events will be posted at www.vafire.com in the next week.

For more information on the “Be Fire Safe, Virginia Smoke Alarm Installation and Education Project” contact Mark L. Buff at 804-249-1965 or mark.buff@vdfp.virginia.gov.

For more information, call Daniel L. Schmidt or Lieutenant Raul G. Castillo, Fairfax County Fire and Rescue Department, 703-246-3801 and TTY 703-385-4419. Fairfax County is committed to nondiscrimination on the basis of disability in all county programs, services and activities. Reasonable accommodations will be provided upon request.