The State Fire Marshal's Office will distribute smoke alarms Wednesday, Nov. 28, at the Tusculum Fire Department, 145 Alexander St., beginning at 10 a.m.
This will be the distribution point for Greene County, Cocke County, Hamblen County, and Jefferson County.
"This massive, statewide, months-long distribution of smoke alarms is all part of our effort to both educate and equip Tennesseans to incorporate fire safety into their daily lives," said Tennessee Fire Marshal and Commerce & Insurance Commissioner Julie Mix McPeak in a news release.
"We want residents to make sure they have functional smoke alarms in their homes, as well as a rehearsed fire-escape plan. These are tools proven to save lives - because even one fire death is one too many."
The program kicks off at 10 a.m. today at Elizabethton Fire Department in Carter County and continues to Greene County and Rogersville on Wednesday.
The following week, the State Fire Marshal's Office will go to the southeast portion of the state. That will be followed by distribution in West Tennessee and in Middle Tennessee.
For distribution updates, go to http://tn.gov/commerce/sfm/getalarmed.shtml
The State Fire Marshal's Office has been awarded a Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) Fire Prevention Grant to purchase 20,000 smoke alarms for installation across the state of Tennessee.
Eight-thousand of these alarms will be distributed by the end of December. The remaining 12,000 alarms will be distributed throughout the first six months of 2013.
HIGH RANK IN FIRE DEATHS
For many years, Tennessee has held the undesirable ranking of being the state with the second-most fire deaths in the nation.
The State Fire Marshal's Office has been committed to working alongside local fire departments to reduce this high fire mortality rate.
These efforts were reflected when the NFPA recently released its latest report of U.S. Unintentional Fire Death Rates by State and listed Tennessee as having the sixth-most fire deaths in the nation, which is a four-position improvement.
The State Fire Marshal's Office is targeting 78 census tracts across the state that have been identified as having the highest risk for fire fatalities.
The areas were identified as part of a study done by the University of Tennessee Institute for Public Service and the Tennessee Municipal League.
