By Susan Motander
Last week the Monrovia Fire Department, members of its Community Emergency Response Team, and the local chapter of the American Red Cross gathered at the Monrovia Mobile Home Estates on Huntington Drive. The volunteers were there to check the smoke detectors of all the residents who requested assistance.
Teams went to each of the homes whose residents had asked for the review. There they checked not only the batteries on any existing smoke alarms, but also the expiration dates on the alarms themselves. Most smoke alarms are functionally for only ten years. After that time, the smoke detectors themselves are no longer sensitive to the smoke they are designed to detect.
When no alarms were found or those in existence were found to be outdated, the teams installed new alarms, at no cost to the residents.
