Renton firefighters soon will distribute hundreds of free smoke and carbon monoxide detectors to Plum residents.

The volunteer fire department was awarded a $43,000 Assistance to Firefighters grant from the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA).

It comes with an estimated $2,200 match, which fire department President Anita Maydak-Neace said Renton is prepared to pay to secure more than 800 smoke/carbon monoxide detectors from First Alert.

Renton was one of three fire departments in the state to recently get the FEMA grants. The other two were Pittsburgh and Philadelphia, both paid departments.

“We’ve been very fortunate on getting these fire prevention grants,” Maydak-Neace said. “It’s something to give a warning system to get out of the house. It absolutely saves lives.”

Maydak-Neace said the department put out a notice about the detectors in its June donation solicitation, and another mailer would be going out to residents within the next few weeks.

About 200 people responded to the first mailer to get the detectors, the president said.

First Alert is a safety equipment manufacturer based in Aurora, Ill.

The detectors come with a 10-year internal battery so people should not have to replace the devices for about a decade instead of changing batteries annually, which is a recommended smoke detector chore around daylight-savings time.

The devices are expected to be ready for distribution the first week in October.

“We have a lot of young and a lot of elderly population demographics,” Maydak-Neace said. “A lot of people don’t have carbon monoxide detectors. We know a lot of people don’t have them, and it’s important. We see our carbon monoxide calls are rising. We’ve had some calls where people had carbon monoxide poisoning. People can pass away from this and not even know that there was a problem.”

Carbon monoxide is an odorless, colorless and tasteless gas that can be deadly.

“That is the silent killer,” said Renton Lt. Chuck Carroll. “Smoke and fire you can see. The (carbon monoxide), you don’t. You need something there to warn you when you have a CO leak in your house. We could have went with just the smoke (detectors), but we decided to go with the combo.”

Some families received the detectors in mid-September as part of a fire safety partnership with Holiday Park Volunteer Fire Department. Holiday Park hosted safety seminars Wednesdays at the fire hall as part of National Preparedness Month.

Renton firefighters plan to set up tents in neighborhood housing plans to help with the distribution. They also can install the detectors if necessary.

People who want more information about the effort can email rentonstation234@gmail.com or call 412-793-3211.

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