Maryland Fire Marshal's Statewide Weekend: Free In-Home Smoke Alarm Checks and Installations
The Maryland Office of the State Fire Marshal, together with local fire departments and the American Red Cross, is running a "Community Risk Reduction Weekend" across the state on Oct. 17-18, offering residents free smoke alarm checks and installations plus home fire-safety education.
Firefighters and volunteers will visit homes to check whether existing smoke alarms work, install new alarms free of charge where needed, and share fire-prevention guidance, with the goal of reducing fire deaths and injuries. State Fire Marshal Caroll H. Spriggs II said this is the first Community Risk Reduction Weekend he has led since taking office, and that cooperation between state and local public-safety agencies is vital to preventing fires and saving lives.
The fire marshal's announcement cited two real cases in western Maryland: households in Kitzmiller and Rawlings had previously received free smoke alarms through the program, and when fires broke out in their homes recently, those alarms alerted the families in time to escape unharmed.
Maryland fire officials remind residents that smoke alarms should be installed in every bedroom, in hallways outside bedrooms and on every level of the home, tested monthly, with batteries replaced annually.
Source: GSM · USA (original Chinese edition)
Photo: 图：居民在家中测试烟雾报警器（资料图）。照片：Wikimedia Commons（公有领域）。A resident testing a home smoke alarm (file photo). Photo via Wikimedia Commons (public domain).
