Hermon residents to receive fire detectors

HERMON – Firefighters will begin knocking on doors today as part of a townwide effort to install smoke detectors in every home.

Residents on Ohio, Croghan and Kelley roads can expect a visit from firefighters tonight and Saturday afternoon, according to Fire Chief Larry Willis. The effort will move to Union Street on Saturday morning and Sunday afternoon, he said Thursday.

Firefighters hope to visit all 1,800 homes in Hermon by this winter, primarily on the weekends, Willis said.

“We really need to be 90 percent done by the time the snow flies,” he said.

The Fire Department received an $85,000 Homeland Security grant earlier this year for the smoke detector program, with a $10,000 match from the town.

Teams of the department’s part-time firefighters will set up appointments to make sure every home has a detector with a working battery inside and outside the bedroom and on every level of the house.

“Less than 10 percent by far, in the town of Hermon, have enough smoke detectors to meet those three criteria,” Willis said.

The department has purchased 7,200 smoke detectors, enough to install four detectors in every home, Willis said.

For residents who already have battery-powered smoke detectors, the firefighters will offer to replace them with a new detector and 10-year battery, Willis said.

A team will return another day to check with residents who are not at home during the first visit and will leave a card on the door if no one is home for the second visit.

The schedule for each neighborhood will be listed on the town’s Web site, www.hermon.net, early in the week of the planned visits, and portable signs also will alert residents to checks.