By Jennifer Swift
The New Haven Register
EAST HAVEN, Conn. — The Fire Department is continuing its efforts to give smoke detectors to those who can’t afford them after receiving a $2,000 grant and working with a local business.
The department will be able to buy about 150 smoke detectors for low- and moderate-income families, said Fire Marshal Anthony Moscato.
He said the department is working with Goody’s Hardware, which will give the town a discount on the detectors to help provide more to those in need.
Moscato applied to FM Global, a provider of global, commercial and industrial property insurance, for a fire prevention grant.
Michael Spaziani, manager of the fire prevention grant program, in a press release said, “Far too often, inadequate budgets prevent those organizations working to prevent fire from being as proactive as they would like to be.
“With additional financial support, grant recipients are actively helping to improve property risk in the communities they serve.”
The initiative to supply those in need with fire detectors has been ongoing in the department, Assistant Chief Charles Licata said.
Moscato and Licata said they’ve heard from people in town or teachers that there are homes without smoke detectors.
They said they do a lot of teaching in classrooms about smoke detectors and fires, and that’s how teachers come to learn that there are families who cannot afford the devices.
Moscato said he had spoken with someone at FM Global at an event, and while discussing the need in town it was recommended he apply for the grant.
“We had some smoke detectors that we were giving out, and we found more people were in need, and we had a couple of schools where teachers knew there were needy families, and we were out of the smoke detectors,” Moscato said.
“Speaking with one of the people up there (at FM Global) and they said they had a grant that they do for fire prevention — so it was kind of a combination of the need and the opportunity.”
The department is providing the smoke detectors on a case by case basis. Those interested can contact the East Haven Fire Department at 203-468-3221.
David Katz, one of the owners of Goody’s Hardware, said they often do this to help the community.
“We’re here to serve and here to protect everyone,” Katz said.
Mayor Joseph Maturo Jr., who was a local firefighter, said he can’t remember losing a house to a fire that had smoke detectors in it, or a time when there was a fatality in a fire when the home had working smoke detectors.
“I think it’s one of the best things that anybody can put in their house,” he said. “I know there are some people with low incomes, and people can’t afford them, or they are unaware how important they are, and even the elderly aren’t always aware.”
Maturo said he values the devices so much that he used to give them as Christmas presents.
He remembers that different groups in town, whether it’s the firefighters union or other groups, have worked on initiatives like this before, and he applauds them all for it.
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