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Crime & Safety

Smoke Detectors Save Lives and Property – Did You Change Your Battery?

Members of the Mineola Fire Department encourage residents to change their detector batteries.

The following was submitted by ex-Chief Robert Connolly on behalf of the Mineola Fire Department:

On Sunday, March 4 as many of the members of the busily prepared for the the Chiefs were alerted to respond for a Chiefs Investigation of an .  En-route, a second call was received reporting a possible house fire with “Smoke in the House” on Juniper Avenue. This prompted a full response from the department. 

Engine Company Three First Lieutenant Michael DeStefano heard the call and recognized the address to be his next door neighbor. He ran next door and heard smoke alarms sounding inside as he met the resident outside of the house. The resident reported smoke coming from the basement and Lt. Destefano observed the home beginning to fill with smoke.

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The resident confirmed that there were no other occupants in the home so the lieutenant decided to attempt to control and or confine the fire until properly equipped firefighters arrived on scene. He entered the home and immediately located the remote shut-off for the heating unit and shut it down. Then the lieutenant opened windows to allow the smoke to dissipate.

Firefighters arrived on scene within minutes and began a systematic ventilation of the home. During this process, firefighters monitored the carbon monoxide levels in the residence which exceeded 30 parts per million (PPM). The heating unit had malfunctioned and was “cherry red” according to first responding firefighters.

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Using a thermal imaging camera firefighters inspected the adjacent walls and ceiling to be sure that a fire was not burning behind the walls. It was later determined that the initial call for an alarm sounding was actually a passerby who heard the residential smoke alarms sounding but did not know from where the alarm was coming. The early detection by smoke detectors coupled with Lt. Destefanos quick actions undoubtedly averted further damage to property and even injury to the resident.

This incident highlights the importance of working smoke detectors on each level of your home. Residents are reminded that you should change the batteries in your smoke detectors when you change the clocks (Did you?).

It is equally important to outside the sleeping areas of your home. These detectors will alert you to the presence of carbon monoxide (CO) which is a colorless, odorless gas that can kill if undetected. Carbon monoxide detectors do have a limited lifespan of approximately 7 years. If you are unsure of the manufacture date on your detector, consider upgrading today. The Mineola Fire Department recommends a plug-in style detector with digital readout and battery back-up.

For further information on detectors and the Mineola Fire Department, visit our website at www.mineolafd.com

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