It is Fire Prevention Week and thanks to a donation, the Ottawa Fire Department will be able to continue to provide smoke detectors free of charge to Ottawans. A $750 donation to the Department from Eric Carlson, the local agent for Country Financial, who told the department to use the money in any way they wished, supported the program. Ottawa Fire Chief, Tim Mathias, says they decided to use the money to purchase 250 smoke detectors. Home Depot in Lawrence stepped up and reduced the cost of each one to under $3.00.
The detectors are available free of charge to anyone within the city limits of Ottawa. Just contact the fire department and let them know. You can pick them up at the fire station or schedule a visit and they will come to your home and install them for you. Don’t live in the City? No worries, all the county volunteer fire departments also have smoke detectors free of charge to anyone who needs them.
Mathias stresses the importance of changing the batteries in your alarms once a year and testing them monthly
