Champaign Fire Dept. installing smoke alarms in high-risk neighborhood Saturday
CHAMPAIGN, Ill. (WCIA) — Members of the Champaign Fire Department will be going door-to-door in the Douglass Park neighborhood this weekend to address a high fire risk there.
The CFD is working with the Annual Smoke Alarm Blitz in Honor of Christian Sheehan to ensure homes have working smoke alarms. Saturday is the annual blitz, and this year will focus on part of the city that has a higher-than-average fire risk.
The level of risk is determined by the American Red Cross, which creates a map to highlight the risk of each county, town and even neighborhood in the U.S. Jeremy Mitchell, the Deputy Fire Marshal of the City of Champaign, explained that the average fire risk in the country is 50 on a scale of 100.
The City of Champaign has an average risk of 62, Mitchell said, but Douglass Park is much higher at 91.
Champaign Fire Dept. seeking volunteers to install smoke alarms
Starting at 8 a.m. on Saturday, firefighters and other volunteers will be going door-to-door to offer smoke alarm inspections and installment of new ones should a home need them. Inspections and installations will be free of charge.
Douglass Park is defined as the area bordered by Grove Street to the south; Bradley Avenue to the north; Sixth Street to the east; and Fourth Street to the west. There are about 100 homes within those boundaries.
The Champaign Fire Department advises that every home have smoke alarms installed and be well maintained. They should be tested once a month and be replaced after 10 years.
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