The Leo Club at Clinton County High School, with the help of the American Red Cross and Albany Fire Department, is in the midst of an important service-oriented project–that being the hope of seeing all homes and residences in Albany and Clinton County have an operable smoke alarm in their home.

Katie Beth Williams, a Leo Club member who is leading the drive for that CCHS organization, explained that the Leo Club is a branch of the Lions Club for teens who wish to become members when they get older. It is a non-profit service organization that takes on service projects in the community.

Williams and the Leo Club are sponsored by members of the Albany Lions Club for the project, specifically her father Mike Williams and Albany Elementary Principal Tim Armstrong, the latter who is an area official with the American Red Cross. Williams said she is following in the footsteps of her brother, Jacob, who helped form the Leo Club at CCHS. The club currently has over 25 members.

The project of supplying free smoke detectors to all homes and residences (apartment dwellings, etc.) is a major undertaking and involves a lot of teamwork, volunteer work and cooperation among the organizations involved.

The free smoke alarms are supplied by the American Red Cross, which Armstrong said had an unlimited supply. They are specifically installed in the homes by members of the Albany Fire Department and instructions on the use of the devices are also given to homeowners and residents in the home.

The project is ongoing this week with applications for city residents being taken from 4-6 p.m. each day for all Albany City Limits residents through Friday at the Foothills Building on the square across from the courthouse.

The groups had initially decided to go “door-to-door” to take applications from residents who need a smoke alarm, but instead opted to set up at a central location to allow people a place and times to come and sign-up to get the smoke detectors. They targeted the city residents first and will then give all county residents in need of a smoke alarm a chance to sign up.

Not only does the project provide free smoke detectors, but can also give more than one per home if a dwelling is more than a one-story site. For example, if a home has a basement, and/or an upstairs, they can get a free smoke alarm for each level of the home.

Even more, anyone who already has a working smoke alarm that is more than 10 years old can get a free replacement and residents who have smoke alarms can also receive free batteries to be installed in those detectors.

Another goal of the group is to educate the public of the importance of having an operable smoke alarm in their home and help them make it part of a routine to keep them operating properly by checking to make sure they work, changing batteries when needed, etc.

Albany Fire Chief Robert Roeper expressed the importance of smoke alarms in homes, saying that when a home is on fire, smoke will actually not wake a person, but actually make them sleep, but the sound of a smoke alarm will usually awaken people. “Some people don’t think a smoke alarm is important…until you’ve had a fire, then it’s too late,” he said.

Both the fire department and Red Cross have worked many fires where there were no smoke detectors at all in the home and in some cases, there may be smoke alarms that either aren’t working or where the batteries have gone dead.

The smoke detectors will be delivered in May and will be installed on May 9 and 16 (Saturdays).

The Leo Club members, a Red Cross Representative, and members of the Albany Fire Department will form teams from each organization to deliver and install the smoke alarms to residents to receive the smoke alarms.

Williams noted that Leo Club members would remain outside the residence while Red Cross members would supply information on escape plans in case of fire, and so forth and the fire department member would actually install the new detector and/or batteries. She said that members who are under 18 would also be accompanied by an adult during the process of delivering the devices to the homes.

It should be stressed that the ongoing project is free to all homes in the county, as well as the importance of having smoke alarms for basic safety in case of a home fire.

Anyone wishing to receive a free smoke alarm, or in need of battery replacement through Friday can call the Foothills Welcome Center from 4-6 p.m. at 387-8724. Persons can also contact either Armstrong, Roeper or any Leo Club member for more information about the project.

More information on when sign-ups for all county residents will begin will be published next week.