"Be Alarmed" Smoke Detector Program

Effective August 1^st, 2020 the Pontiac Fire Department is teaming up with the Office of the Illinois State Fire Marshal and the Illinois Fire Safety Alliance to bring this program to the Pontiac community.  Please contact Lt. Michael Jahn at the Pontiac Fire Department via email at Michael.Jahn@pontiac.org or call (815)842-3225 if you are interested in learning more about this program. 

Program Overview: “Be Alarmed!” is a fire safety education and smoke alarm installation program administered cooperatively between the Illinois Fire Safety Alliance (IFSA) and the Office of the Illinois State Fire Marshal (OSFM). The program distributes fire safety education materials and 10-year sealed battery smoke alarms to fire departments in the state of Illinois. The fire departments then deliver the education and install smoke alarms in at-risk homes within their communities while recording data for reporting purposes. Smoke alarms can only be distributed to home-owners per the program’s guidelines.  Both the educational materials and smoke alarms are provided to fire departments at no cost as a result of funding from both the IFSA and OSFM with additional assistance from Kidde and Menards.

Purpose & Objectives: The program was developed to educate Illinois residents on the dangers of fire in the home and how to prevent fires from occurring in the home, as well as to ensure there are working smoke alarms properly installed in homes. By providing 10-year sealed battery smoke alarms, it ensures that the power source cannot be removed from the unit and, if properly maintained, will last the life of the device.

The program seeks to:

1. Educate Illinois residents, young and old, on home fire safety and prevention methods.

2. Reduce the number of fire-related injuries in Illinois.

3. Reduce the number of fire-related deaths in Illinois.

 4. Identify the reason for non-working smoke alarms in Illinois homes.