Alarm Installed by Hendersonville High Football Team Saves Family from Fire

NASHVILLE – A smoke alarm installed by the Hendersonville High School football team as part of the Tennessee State Fire Marshal’s Office "Get Alarmed" program is credited with saving the lives of three people during an August 26, 2016 house fire.

Investigators believe an electronic cigarette device left charging on a desk caused the early morning blaze at the home on Winding Way in Hendersonville. While the fire resulted in an estimated $50,000 of damage to the house, the two homeowners and their grandson escaped without injury after being alerted by a smoke alarm.

Prevention of that tragedy began over a year before when members of the Hendersonville High School Commandos football team, working alongside the Hendersonville Fire Department, installed smoke alarms for the family in July 2015. The State Fire Marshal’s Office coordinated the summer outreach effort, which paired several Tennessee high school football teams with local fire departments to install alarms as part of the “Get Alarmed” smoke alarm distribution program.

"Working smoke alarms should be a vital part of every Tennessee home," said State Fire Marshal and Commerce & Insurance Commissioner Julie Mix McPeak. "Our ‘Get Alarmed’ program was created to promote these crucial devices, and we continue to see strong evidence that the effort is making a positive impact on public safety."

Since being launched in November 2012, "Get Alarmed" has helped save at least 147 lives from fire danger; 19 of those saves occurred in 2016. The program has contributed to the single largest fire mortality rate reduction in Tennessee history. To date, more than 120,000 smoke alarms have been distributed to more than 470 local partnering organizations who install them in homes in need throughout their communities.

“We were proud to partner with the State Fire Marshal’s Office on this safety initiative for our local community,” said Hendersonville Fire Chief Scotty Bush. “While conducting the installations last year, our firefighters told the football players that this volunteer effort could very well save a life -- and in this case, they saved three.”

Tennesseans who need a smoke alarm can request one for free at www.tn.gov/fire.

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