THE VIRGINIAN-PILOT
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: Wednesday, December 13, 1995 TAG: 9512120124
SECTION: VIRGINIA BEACH BEACON PAGE: 04 EDITION: FINAL
SOURCE: BY DAWSON MILLS, CORRESPONDENT
LENGTH: Medium: 95 lines
With the arrival of cold weather and three fire-related deaths in less than a week, the Virginia Beach Fire Department is stepping up its prevention efforts.
With the help of the city's Housing and Neighborhood Preservation Department, which obtained a $3,000 grant from the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development, the Fire Department is taking Operation Smoke Detector to residents of the city's trailer parks.
The fire safety initiative was planned before last week's two fires which claimed three lives, the first fire deaths here in more than a year. Fire officials have noted that working smoke detectors could have played a role in preventing both tragedies.
Last Saturday, 14 firefighters from ``C'' Shift of Companies 11, 12 and 14, accompanied by Dave McClees from housing, went door-to-door in the Colony and Seaside trailer parks in the 1100 block of Virginia Beach Boulevard. They offered residents free batteries for existing smoke detectors and new smoke detectors to those who lacked them.
Alice O'Grady accepted a new smoke detector, installed by Master Fire Fighter Gregg Benshoff of Company 11. The one in the trailer she has lived in since 1979 wasn't working.
``I think it's really very important,'' said O'Grady. ``If anyone's been in a trailer fire, they know what I'm talking about. I was in one up in Maine. My mother got out OK but I was trying to get her dog out. I almost got caught in there. We lost the dog.''
Fire Captains Gary Weidner of Company 14 and George Hughes of Company 11 stepped gingerly through mud and wet leaves as the firefighters canvassed the park.
It was a presence that was hard to miss. The firefighters brought three fire engines and a ladder truck with them. Battalion Chief Paul Mauch of Battalion 1 came to monitor the progress in his own fire department vehicle.
Copies of a notice alerting residents to the visit had been left in the park office. Those requesting a smoke alarm, battery or test of an existing smoke alarm were asked to tape the bright yellow flier in front of their trailers. Almost 40 of the 180 trailers in Colony Trailer Park took advantage of the offer.
After taking care of those requesting a visit, firefighters went through the park knocking on doors. On their rounds, in addition to inoperative smoke alarms, they found unattended cigarettes, space heaters in close proximity to combustibles and numerous electrical hazards, many involving holiday lighting.
``In a business we can enforce compliance,'' explained Hughes, ``but in residences all we can do is point them out, call the residents' attention to them and ask them to correct them.''
Todd and Sandy Walsh were getting into their car outside their trailer as Hughes and Master Fire Fighter April Elmore approached to ask about the couple's smoke detector. They acknowledged that the wired-in unit wasn't working but didn't have time to accept the proffered replacement. They said they would take care of it or call the Operation Smoke Detector number.
Hughes hopes they will.
Said Benshoff, of the morning spent at the trailer park, ``It went well. They already had a list (of those who had responded to the flier) and that was good.''
Operation Smoke Detector receives no city funding but is an on-going partnership between the fire department and various volunteer groups such as the Kiwanis Club, which handles donations and contributions to purchase smoke detectors and batteries. Saturday's visit, using a community development block grant from HUD, represented the first time that source of funding has been tapped. City fire fighting and housing officials hope it will not be the last.
Fire department Captain Stan Foster, chairman of Operation Smoke Detector, had originally approached Housing with the idea to seek the grant. Foster, with the fire and arson investigation department, is credited with being the founding father of the program.
``After the first of the year,'' said Weidner, ``we plan to go into Trailer City and Triangle Trailer Courts.''
Added McClees, ``We will go into other areas of the city after the trailer parks are complete. The $3,000 grant can purchase about 1,000 smoke detectors and batteries. I hope to have it funded again next year.'' MEMO: For more information or to make a donation, call Operation Smoke
Detector at 471-5826.
ILLUSTRATION: LEFT: David McClees, left, of the Virginia Beach Department of
Housing and Preservation; Capt. George Hughes, Capt. Gary Weidner
and Master Firefighter Gregg Benshoff recap their day at Colony
trailer park. Almost 40 of the 180 trailers in the park took
advantage of the offer of a smoke alarm, battery or test of an
existing smoke alarm.
RIGHT: Benshoff of Company 11 installs a smoke detector in Alice
O'Grady's trailer. The one in the trailer she has lived in since
1979 wasn't working.
Photos by DAWSON MILLS
by CNB