Springville, Tenn.–For some rural volunteer fire departments, it’s not just about fire calls.
For the Springville Volunteer Fire Department it’s about mitigation as well. Springville Fire was called out on Christmas Day for an alarm activation of smoke in a laundry room. When Springville firefighters arrived on the scene, with a fire engine and five firefighters, nothing was found but they went further.
According to Lt. Chuck Asher, firefighters searched the interior as well as the exterior and found neither smoke nor fire. But, they did find a plugged dryer duct as well as a lot of leaves and debris on the roof. After talking about it, Asst. Chief William Unruh and Lt. Asher decided to do more.
So, on December 27th they returned to the location with a brush tool for cleaning dryer duct lines and enough energy to clear the roof of debris.
It is recommended by the U.S. Fire Administration to be sure to clean the lint filter after each use and to clean the vent pipe every 3 months. There are over 2900 dryer fires reported each year. 34% of those are from lack of cleaning the lint out.
Another thing to help with mitigation, Springville Volunteer Fire Department also has FREE fire alarms to install from the State of Tennessee’s “Get Alarmed” program. These smoke alarms have a 10 year battery life and must be installed by the fire department per program guidelines. If any resident is hearing impaired, there are also aides that can be special ordered that detect the sound of the smoke alarm and have included modules that provide a flashing visual aide as well a rumble shaker to put under the mattress.
This, and installation, is provided free of charge for the residents of the Springville Fire District by the Springville Fire Department and the State of Tennessee. Residents in other communities should reach out to their local Departments for the availability of smoke alarms for them
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