Welcome to spring and as it warms up and more of us venture outside to enjoy the weather please keep a sharp eye out for those pedestrians and bicyclists that will be sharing the roadways with you. Put the phone down and stop the texts to stop the wrecks.

In light of three tragic and preventable deaths from carbon monoxide (CO) poisoning in our fire district in 2016, we partnered with Kidde and First Alert to put a working CO detector in the homes of some of the most vulnerable residents of our community. While this is definitely a work in progress we’ve gathered some data points that cause concern. Included in our visit to the selected homes, we also offer to check the smoke detectors. Though we don’t have enough data to
come to any solid conclusions yet, the early data suggests that more than half of the homes we’ve visited also have a significant issue with smoke detectors. These issues included too few smoke detectors, detectors that have no batteries or
dead batteries, detectors that were beyond their recommended life of 10 years while some homes had no detectors at all. Though we currently have a full list of families for our CO detector installation program we may continue to expand the program as resources permit.

Please, please, please contact us at 815/436-5335 during normal business hours to request help or guidance on the placement, testing and maintenance of your home smoke and carbon monoxide detectors. We’re here to help you and those you love. Our members will make an appointment with you to provide the needed assistance.

This May will see the awarding of scholarships named in honor of retired Chief John D. Eichelberger. Four college-bound high school seniors who live within our fire district will be the recipients of these awards, underwritten and sustained by the Plainfield Volunteer Fire Department. This is the second year of this effort and we’re glad we’re able to partner with our students and schools in this important endeavor.

Thanks for your continued support and as always,

Be careful out there…

David S. Riddle, Chief