TBO.com - TBO is Tampa Bay Online

Firefighters, Shriners Distribute Smoke Detectors In East Tampa

Tribune photo by VALERIE KALFRIN

Tampa firefighter Seth Dominique, left, and Tom Edwards, past potentate of the Egypt Shrine in Tampa, install a battery in a new smoke detector today at an east Tampa home.

ADVERTISEMENT

By VALERIE KALFRIN | The Tampa Tribune

Published: February 10, 2009

TAMPA - Seline Kouame had set out a bowl of flour and a deep-frying basket in the kitchen when she and her husband, Gilbert, heard a knock at the door.

Tampa Fire Rescue Driver Engineer Charles Chapman stood there, offering to check the smoke detector in their house for free. He wound up replacing it, mounting a new one in the hallway between the kitchen and bedrooms.

"If you need a battery, just come down to the fire station," Chapman said before leaving their house on East 23rd Avenue.

Every few months, Tampa Fire Rescue sweeps through a neighborhood to distribute free smoke detectors and batteries. The items are available anytime at city fire stations, but the firefighters said they like meeting residents and educating them about fire safety.

"A lot of people are surprised to see us," firefighter Seth Dominique said.

About five Shriners from the Egypt Shrine in Tampa, wearing sequined fezzes, joined the fire crews going door-to-door in East Tampa this morning. Shriners Hospitals for Children provide free health care for youngsters with serious conditions, including burns and spinal-cord injuries, at 22 hospitals nationwide. The Tampa unit provides orthopedic care.

"It's better to do this than treat the burn victims," Shriners spokesman Bob Stalker said.

Firefighters visited 75 houses, installing 21 smoke detectors and 25 batteries. Residents were thankful.

"I can't go wrong," Elmer Vance, 77, said after hearing about the free batteries.

"We just had a bad fire around the corner," said Steve McCalla, 18, after Dominique replaced the yellowed smoke detector outside the bedrooms at his house.

Reporter Valerie Kalfrin can be reached at (813) 259-7800 or vkalfrin@tampatrib.com.

Share this:

Loading Comments...

Email Print

ADVERTISEMENT