Working smoke alarms provide early detection, time to escape a fire

By Richard Dyer
Mail | Twitter: @RHDyer

Each year since 2012, Mesa Fire and Medical Department has responded to around 500 structure fire calls. In the same time period, there have been 18 civilian deaths and no firefighter deaths in structure fires in Mesa, according to city records.

MFMD doesn’t track whether a fire was related to a fire alarm turned off or not working, but working smoke alarms — which provide early detection and notification — give occupants the time needed to escape.

“At MFMD, we recognize the value that smoke detectors play in saving lives and minimizing property damage due to fire. Simply put, the sooner a fire is identified and extinguished, the less damage to health and property occurs,” Marrisa Ramírez-Ramos, Mesa Fire and Medical Department public information officer, said.

Smoke inhalation is one of the first things first-responders treat for victims in a fire.

“In addition to the effects smoke has on limiting visibility, poisonous gases produced including, but not limited to, carbon monoxide and hydrogen cyanide have devastating health consequences. Our primary objective when responding to house fires is life safety. Removing patients from exposure to fire, smoke and poisonous gases is our primary objective,” Ramírez-Ramos said.

Once removed from the toxic environment, a patient is assessed and treated. A full medical assessment is conducted, including assessment of mental status, cardiac monitoring and vital signs, she said.

“Smoke exposure can affect a person’s level of consciousness, respiratory and cardiovascular systems. Vital signs we are particularly concerned with include oxygen and carbon monoxide concentrations in a patient’s blood. Carbon monoxide binds to hemoglobin in our blood at a much higher rate than oxygen,” Ramírez-Ramos said.

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Free smoke alarms and grab bars were recently installed in mobile homes at an age-restricted, 55-and-older gated community as part of a fire-safety program.

Having smoke alarms and a plan to escape from every room in your house before you need it is important, Christina Cornils, programs administrator for the Arizona Burn Foundation, said at the effort that used volunteers.

“You definitely want to investigate options from each room in your house, which is something a lot of people don’t think about. Especially if it’s a two-story home — sometimes that’s a window. So we want to make sure that our volunteers here know to educate residents about that,” she said.

The shrill tone of a home alarm detecting smoke saves lives.

“We do smoke alarm walks throughout the Valley and our goal is to prevent a house fire from ever happening. So, making sure there are proper-working smoke alarms in every home,” Cornils said. “And we get to partner with local fire departments and the Red Cross to coordinate these walks and make appointments and then we get to go door-to-door and educate people about fire safety and how long they have to get out of the house and what the best way is to do that.”

Community selected

The American Red Cross, Arizona Burn Foundation, and Mesa Fire and Medical Department along with more than 50 volunteers worked in teams installing 161 smoke alarms and 49 grab bars March 16 at Sunrise Vista Mobile Home Park, 300 S. Val Vista Drive in Mesa.

The community was selected due to call volume statistics. In 2022, there were 239 emergency calls for service within the Sunrise Vista community and 47 were fall-related, according to a release from the city of Mesa.

With support from Home Depot, the grab bars were provided at no cost to participating residents. Smoke alarms were provided through a donation from the Arizona Burn Foundation.

The smoke and fire alarms donated for the program will last eight to 10 years before they need to be replaced, Cornils said.

“So it’s actually battery-protected so the residents aren’t responsible for changing the battery. When it’s done, it’s done — and they can replace the entire system. So they’re not responsible for changing batteries on the alarm,” she said.

Cornils likes that the alarms are for both smoke and fire.

“The fact that it is also dual-sensored because smoke inhalation is what typically harms people,” Cornils said.

Volunteer effort

Before they could spread out in the community near Southern Avenue and Val Vista Road in Mesa, volunteers who would later be placing grab bars in homes had an orientation in a parking lot.

Inside an adjacent clubhouse, other volunteers sat around tables and listened to Cornils and Emily Hawbaker, disaster program specialist for the American Red Cross, as they explained how teams of two or three volunteers were to set out with a large red duffel bag filled with boxes of smoke and fire alarms.

A checklist and escape-route map to be filled out by the resident were part of the packet of information given, Hawbaker said to the volunteers.

About one of every 20 fires — 5% — are started by discarded smoking materials such as cigarettes, Hawbaker said.

“So it’s a very high number,” she said.

Next on the checklist is an escape plan in case of a fire.

“You’re going to help the homeowner draw an aerial view of their home and then they are to find two escape routes per room. One could be out the bedroom door, the other one out the window of the bedroom, but try to find at last two escape routes,” Hawbaker explained to the volunteers. “And then just remind them ... they only have two minutes to escape their house in case of a fire. So they should be practicing this every week, every six months, if not more often.”

A hanger with information would be left at the front doors of mobile home residents who registered but were not home. According to Crornils, the Red Cross reports having a lot of phone calls from people to set up appointments.

Installing alarms

Linda Grubbs, 59, registered to have smoke alarms installed in her Sunrise Vista mobile home, which she said was constructed in the 1970s.

She liked that the alarms were to be installed at no cost.

“I think it’s awesome. I mean, it helps out a lot for the people that need help. And it’s so much easier for them — especially when we are all living on a base income. Yeah, I think it’s an awesome deal. It’s perfect for what people need,” Grubbs said.

She used to have a smoke alarm on an outside wall of the kitchen, but it would go off when the oven was in use, she said.

“I had originally had it closer to this wall and every time I cooked in the oven it would go off. I mean no smoke — I think it’s just the heat source on this wall that triggered them to go off,” Grubbs said. “The older ones with the battery — you know how those are very sensitive. Any kind of heat source,” she said.

The free alarms were installed on the walls of two bedrooms and a living room.

“We don’t like putting the smoke detectors near the kitchen. They need to be close enough to where they can do the job to save your life but not too close,” volunteer Joanne Brenner said to Grubbs.

Weekly testing

Prior to placing a smoke and fire alarm on the wall of a home, volunteer Paul Brenner pressed and held the test button, letting out the loud, ear-piercing siren.

Cornils said later that the smoke and fire alarms should be tested once a month. She recalled earlier that day asking a group of more than 30 volunteers during the morning orientation if they had recently tested their home’s smoke alarm.

“We just don’t think about it, right? Like they’re in our house and then you don’t think about testing them. But they should be tested about once a month and in Arizona you want them dusted frequently because of the air,” she said.

Hard-wired smoke detectors

A nonworking hard-wired smoke detector that had been connected to the electrical system was found at one home the Brenners installed smoke detectors at. The casing was removed, wires disconnected and a new alarm installed on top of it.

Such hard-wired devices can be replaced by the home owner or a contracted business, said Steve Lockwood, owner of Mountain State Fire Protection LLC, 952 E. Baseline Road Suite No. 123 in Mesa. The business specializes in fire equipment and fire protection services.

“It depends on the homeowner. If they feel comfortable working with wiring, then it shouldn’t be an issue. If the homeowner is not very handy then they will want to hire an electrician or fire-safety professional to install the device,” he said in an email.

“When you test the smoke detector and it doesn’t work then it needs to be replaced. To tell your smoke detector isn’t working, press the test button on the detector. If no sound goes off, then the smoke detector needs replacing. You should use a can of compressed air a couple times of year to blow out any dust around the detector vent and from around the sides,” Lockwood said. “If the smoke detector is hard wired and chirping all the time or goes off for no reason, then you need to replace the detector.”

He recommends that hard-wired smoke detectors include a battery backup.

“Make sure it has a battery backup in case the power goes out. Make sure it has a test button so you can make sure the device is working. Some hard-wired smoke detectors have a voice alert so you can sync them via Bluetooth and the detector will give you voice prompts to tell you what is happening such as smoke being detected or a faulty detector. You can also purchase a bundled device. These are smoke detectors that also contain a carbon monoxide detector for added safety,” Lockwood said.

Richard H. Dyer can be reached at rdyer@iniusa.org, or on Twitter @rhdyer. To voice your opinion on this story, connect with us at AzOpinions@iniusa.org.

Richard Dyer
Managing Editor | East Valley
@RHDyer

rdyer@iniusa.org

Meet Richard
Richard Dyer has worked at Independent Newsmedia Inc. USA since 1987, starting his career in Apache Junction as a copy editor and being promoted over the years to work as the editor of the Mesa Independent, news services editor for the East Valley office in Apache Junction, managing editor for the East Valley office, news services editor for the East Valley office and eventually also for the newspapers at INI’s then-Chandler office, managing editor again and as a news editor covering Apache Junction/Gold Canyon and Queen Creek. He helped start the Florence Independent while the news editor covering Apache Junction and Mesa news. In January 2023, he became associate managing editor for the East Valley newspapers and in August 2023 became managing editor for the East Valley newspapers of Chandler/Tempe, Gilbert, Queen Creek, Florence, Mesa and Apache Junction/Gold Canyon, while also reporting on Mesa and Apache Junction/Gold Canyon.  

Community: Since 2009, he has worked as a volunteer to design The Blue Guitar Magazine, Blue Guitar Jr. magazine and Unstrung magazine, which are projects of The Arizona Consortium for the Arts; and since 2014, has been overseeing the art submissions. 

Education: University of Arizona with a master of arts in journalism and a bachelor of science in agricultural communication. Also continuing education at Mesa Community College in welding in a metal art sculpture class.

Random fact: Saw his first tornado on May 31, 2010, which was classified as an EF-2, as part of a stormchasing tour group.

Hobbies: He is an artist of welded-steel sculptures, selling his artwork at juried and non-juried art shows.