NYC Distributing 100,000 Free Smoke Alarms
NEW YORK (CBSNewYork) -- Hoping to save lives, the city is giving out 100,000 free smoke alarms.
Most fatal fires occur in homes, and "in two-thirds of those fires, there are no working smoke alarms present," said FDNY Commissioner Daniel Nigro.
Mayor Bill de Blasio said those who are poor need them most.
"Smoke alarms are not a luxury," he said Monday. "They are a necessity."
The city was spurred to act after a March fire in Midwood, Brooklyn, killed seven children. Fire safety product company Kidde is donating 50,000 alarms, and the Red Cross will help install them.
"I can put this in my back area, because I have one in the front but I don't have one in the back area," said a woman who picked up an alarm at the Flatbush firehouse Monday.
"I can sleep in peace," said a man who also received an alarm.
New Yorkers who are interested in receiving a free smoke detector should call 311.