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Inslee listens to a constituent.

Montage of Wing Point in Bainbridge Island and the Edmonds Ferry.

Jay Inslee: Washington's 1st Congressional District

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Fire prevention in Snohomish County gets boost

Federal grant to focus on detectors for seniors, apartment residents

24 February 2006

U.S. Rep. Jay Inslee announced that the Snohomish County Fire District 1 has been awarded a $32,200 federal grant for smoke alarms and education targeting at-risk populations - senior citizens and apartment dwellers.

The grant, which comes under the Department of Homeland Security's Assistance to Firefighters Grant Program, will fund 1,000 standard smoke detectors, 100 detectors for the hearing impaired and a range of educational materials as part of the department's ongoing smoke alarm education program. It was one of 39 Fire Prevention and Safety grants awarded to departments throughout the nation this week.

"When it comes to protecting area families, we often focus on securing planes, ports, roads, schools and other public places," said U.S. Rep. Jay Inslee, who has represented parts of Snohomish County in Congress since 1999. "But we can't forget about threats we face at home - like fire."

Kim Schroeder, the Fire District 1 public education coordinator added, "We've had three fatal fires that have claimed four lives in the past five years. Two of the fire victims were senior citizens in their own homes and two were young children in an apartment. In all cases, there were no working smoke alarms." According to the National Fire Protection Association, about half of home-fire deaths result from fires in the small percentage of houses with no smoke alarms. The nonprofit organization also notes that about 25 percent of detectors in homes that report fires do not work.