From the City of Grand Island:

Hours of service and hard work by members of the Grand Island Fire Department and community volunteers paid huge dividends as the recent installation of smoke detectors potentially saved the lives of one household.

On Wednesday, April 6, the Fire Department was dispatched to a kitchen fire at 2323 Bellwood Drive Lot 185. Upon arrival the emergency responders found a grandmother and her two grandchildren, ages one and three, safely outside the home.

The near-tragic situation occurred when a grandmother put her two grandchildren down for a nap and started cooking supper on the stove. She stepped outside and shortly thereafter heard the smoke detectors sounding. Upon entering the kitchen, she found the pan and cabinets above the stove on fire.

She grabbed the pan, put it on the porch and assisted her grandchildren to safety. The porch then also caught on fire; a neighbor utilized a fire extinguisher to douse those flames. The grandmother received some burns, but the children were unharmed. Without the early warning from the smoke detectors, the impact of the fire could have been much worse.

This home was just one of many that received smoke detectors via the Grand Island Fire Department’s smoke detector program. Firefighter/Paramedic Jared Stockwell’s leadership has greatly contributed to the success of the program.

To date, more than 1,000 detectors have been installed in Grand Island’s mobile homes. In addition, more than 1,600 detectors have been installed in the homes of Grand Island residents age 60 and over. Funding for this program was provided by the Department of Homeland Security with additional funding assistance coming from the Heartland United Way.

Detectors are still available through this program free of charge to Grand Island residents who own and live in a mobile home or to homeowners who are age 60 or older. There’s proof that even homeowners who have smoke detector systems installed can also benefit from the program. Recently the Fire Department found two newer homes that had smoke detector systems installed, but were not connected to a power source.

Unfortunately, this program is not available for rental properties. The Fire Department will assist landlords in determining proper placement of smoke detectors but cannot provide the detectors free of charge.

There is still time for qualifying homeowners to take advantage of the smoke detector program by calling the Fire Department administration at 308-385-5444 ext. 220 or sending an email to fire@grand-island.com to schedule a time for installation.