10 Years, 12,000 Smoke Alarms

The Insurance Council of Texas’ We’re Out to Alarm Texas program has donated approximately 12,000 smoke alarms to Texas seniors and other citizens throughout the state during its 10 years in existence. The ICT said these smoke alarms have been distributed and installed by firefighters in 40 Texas fire departments.

The Travelers Insurance Companies, State Farm and the Association of Fire and Casualty Companies of Texas (AFACT) assisted ICT in making this effort possible.

Fire departments receiving smoke alarms for the first time this year are Mission, Mercedes, Alton, Pearland, Giddings, Haltom City, Cleburne and the volunteer fire departments in Collin County, Childress and Meridian.

Other cities receiving smoke alarms this year were Abilene, Amarillo, Laredo, Farmers Branch, McKinney, Wichita Falls and New Braunfels.

For the second year in a row, the Austin Fire Department installed donated smoke alarms into the homes of clients in the Helping the Aged, Needy and Disabled (HAND) organization.

The smoke alarms are installed by the fire departments on a first-come, first-serve basis to homeowners in each city.

The We’re Out to Alarm Texas smoke alarm campaign saved three lives in its first year of operation when elderly residents in New Braunfels and Waco were rescued by firefighters after being alerted by donated smoke alarms to fires in their smoke-filled homes.