Last November, Maggie Watson's youngest son dropped her off for her early-morning custodial shift at Kernersville Elementary School. He returned home and was dozing back to sleep when his 36-year-old older brother frantically started dragging him to the back of the house.
"It was a call you never want to get," Maggie Watson said. "J.R. heard popping and smelled smoke and it woke him up. He was able to get his younger brother to the back of the house."
The family had one smoke detector, but it was in disrepair. The family lost everything but each other. In July, they moved back into their newly rebuilt house, one that has a working smoke detector in every room, Watson said.
Her story is one that the Kernersville Fire Department and the Mayor's Council for the Disabled hope is never repeated. Ken Karns, the chairman of the council, has spearheaded an initiative to provide smoke detectors to all Kernersville residents who are disabled, elderly or can't afford them.
Karns teamed with Bruce Hennequin, the town's assistant fire marshal, to develop the program, which includes having firefighters change batteries and install the smoke detectors for no charge.
The program kicked off yesterday afternoon at Wal-Mart. The Kernersville store has donated 50 smoke detectors and six boxes of batteries to begin the program.
"This is the first time we have had this program in Kernersville. We will run it until we run out of smoke detectors. It's intended for the less fortunate," Hennequin said.
The fire department will accept calls about the program and will screen requests. Hennequin noted that working smoke detectors are the responsibility of landlords and management companies for rental properties.
"We are not going to leave someone without a smoke detector," Hennequin said.
Rishado Robinson, a co-manager of the Kernersville Wal-Mart, noted that the store has a monthly budget to assist nonprofit organizations.
"When Ken came over from the Mayor's Council and explained the need for smoke detectors, we wanted to help with this project," Robinson said.
People interested in the program can call Hennequin at the fire department at 996-6791, ext. 2.
■ Monica Young can be reached at cyoung9@triad.rr.com.
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