REGION — Two local volunteers are working to ensure homes throughout Franklin County and beyond have working smoke detectors.

“Bob Haemmerle and Mindy Wenkert are two wonderful Red Cross Disaster Services volunteers. Their mission is to ensure homes are safer,” said Eric Lynes, community disaster program manager for the Central Coastal Maine Red Cross.

The Rangeley residents install free residential smoke detectors and provide education about fire safety at home.

The American Red Cross Home Fire Campaign was developed approximately 10 years ago with the goal of reducing fire related deaths and injuries by 25 percent, Lynes said.

“It has been a success,” he added. “The program is free. Not only do we install alarms but we provide families with fire safety information.”

Those interested in having smoke detectors installed should reach out to the Red Cross. The request is shared with the organization’s local chapter and then assigned to regional volunteers like Haemmerle and Wenkert.

The duo is part of the organization’s local disaster assistance team.

“If someone were to have a fire and be displaced or suffer significant damage, the fire department or emergency management agency would reach out to the Red Cross,” Haemmerle explained. “The Red Cross then reaches out to volunteers to see if they are available to see what kinds of assistance could be provided.”

While disaster assistance is part of their volunteer work, a bigger piece is avoiding disasters through the smoke detector program.

“They give us a name, we make contact and set it up for when it works for the person getting the smoke alarms,” Haemmerle explained. “It is their own time and their personal space. We want to minimize any inconvenience for the recipient.”

They install basic battery operated 10-year smoke detectors.

“We mark the date on them when they are installed,” Haemmerle said. “It is a good idea to mark the date. We’ve replaced a few that had a date of 2007.”

They primarily focus on the Rangeley, Eustis and Phillips areas, due to proximity. However, they have done installations throughout Franklin County, and even some in Kennebec County.

“It is a win-win for them, for the Red Cross and for us,” said Wenkert. “We get to connect with people and possibly prohibit something tragic from happening.”

Haemmerle said they began volunteering for the  Red Cross about 16 months ago.

There are multiple layers of interactive online training to be completed before volunteering with the Red Cross, he added.

To learn more about the American Red Cross Home Fire Campaign, or to request installation of free smoke detectors, or to learn more about volunteering, visit redcross.org. 

“The feeling I get from people when we leave is that they are happy and they feel more secure,” Wenkert added. “It is a very easy thing to do and doesn’t take a lot of time. The Red Cross is facilitating and we are willing to install.”