In the past two years, Oxnard has had three house fires that killed someone older than 65. In one case, the fire occurred at a home with a broken smoke detector.
With the help of a $351,200 grant from the Federal Emergency Management Agency, the Oxnard Fire Department is forming a plan to help residents in need. The department learned recently it was getting the funds after having applied for the grant this year.
Oxnard firefighters want to prevent more fatal fires, especially involving older people, who national statistics show are more at risk.
The grant will fund a fire prevention program, led by Engineer Joe Garces.
With the money, Oxnard firefighters will be able to give out 5,000 new 10-year smoke detectors free and 5,000 more devices to detect carbon monoxide, a lethal, colorless and odorless gas that can leak from appliances. The grant also provides funds for firefighters to implement a campaign to educate Oxnard residents about the importance of smoke detectors.
Fire Battalion Chief Rod Thorpe, who serves as Oxnard's fire marshal, said the smoke detectors and the carbon monoxide monitors are separate devices. The smoke detectors have a 10-year battery and last longer than older devices. The carbon monoxide monitors are plugged into an electrical wall socket and have battery backup.
"The department has always felt prevention was the priority," Thorpe said. "Over the past few years, it's really become obvious that people are just forgetting the importance of smoke detectors."
Over the years, Oxnard firefighters have experienced instances with seniors who can't replace the batteries and have called the department for help. Someone comes to replace them as a courtesy.
"The 10-year batteries are a progressive step," Thorpe said.
Firefighters will reach out to seniors and groups that serve older people in Oxnard in the coming months to find residents who need new detectors or help with installations, Thorpe said. Firefighters will also distribute literature in English and Spanish, he said.
The Burn Institute, a nonprofit seeking to reduce the number of burn injuries and deaths in several Southern California counties, says people older than 65 have a home fire death rate of nearly twice the national average. For those older than 75, the risk nearly triples, and after age 85, the risk increases to four times the national average.
Older people face a higher risk of fire and burn injuries because their physical reaction time may be slowed; their sense of sight, hearing and smell may be diminished; and they may be drowsy or disoriented because of medications they take, the institute says.
According to the National Fire Protection Association, smoke alarms that are properly installed and maintained play a vital role in reducing fire deaths and injuries. A working smoke alarm also cuts the chances of dying in a reported fire in half.
According to the association:
- Each year, nearly 3,000 people die in home fires in the United States.
- Almost two-thirds of home fire deaths from 2005 to 2009 resulted from fires in homes with no or broken smoke alarms.
- Smoke alarms that fail to operate usually do so because batteries are missing, disconnected or dead. In more than half of the reported home fires in which smoke alarms were present but did not operate even though the fire was large enough, batteries were missing or disconnected.
- Three-quarters of all U.S. homes have at least one working smoke alarm.
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