JAY – The Fire Rescue Department is partnering with the American Red Cross in Maine to provide and install free smoke alarms to reduce fire deaths and injuries.

Through the Red Cross’ Home Fire Preparedness Campaign, smoke alarms will be offered and installed for residents. 

Town Manager Shiloh LaFreniere told selectmen Monday that she and Fire Rescue Chief Mike Booker, along with representatives from Livermore Falls and Wilton, met with representatives of the Red Cross to discuss the program.

“They come in to do training, then we go out and knock on doors and see if people need smoke alarms and then we go back and install them,” she said.

It is a good program to get smoke alarms into homes that may not have them, she said.

“Anyone who wants to help can help,” Booker said, adding that organizations may also offer their assistance.

When Farmington Fire Rescue Department did it last year, he said, only the representatives of the department participated.

Jay’s planning session with the Red Cross is set for 6 p.m. Dec. 28. The date to sign up residents who want smoke alarms installed is Jan. 14, 2017.

The installation date is Jan. 28, 2017.

The Livermore Falls Fire Department will carry out the program in December.

More about the campaign can be found at www.redcross.org/local/maine/home-fire-preparedness-campaign.

In other business Monday, selectpersons voted 3-2 to table action on the purchase of a boiler for the North Jay Fire Station to replace one over 21 years old.

Selectpersons Keith Cornelio, Judy Diaz and Tom Goding voted in favor, while Chairman Terry Bergeron and Vice Chairman Tim DeMillo voted against it.

Diaz asked for a quote on an oil-fired boiler.

Booker and fellow officers presented four quotes for propane-fueled boilers that were in the $31,000 range. A propane boiler would be easier to switch over to natural gas if it comes through town, Booker said.

Booker wrote in the 2015 Town Report that the boiler had many mechanical issues over the past year.

The boiler is obsolete and parts are hard to come by, if they can be found at all, he said. It has required $1,500 to $2,000 to make it through the winter in recent years.

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LIVERMORE FALLS — Fliers were mailed Tuesday informing residents about the availability of free smoke alarms and free installation in an effort to keep people safe.

The Livermore Falls Fire Department partnered with the American Red Cross in Maine to participate in the Home Fire Preparedness Campaign. 

There were 1,260 fliers sent to residents, Fire Chief Edward Hastings IV said. The $215 cost will come from the department’s fire prevention budget line.

“We’re going to do the installation on Dec. 10 from 10 a.m. to 3 p.m. or later if necessary,” he said.

People interested in getting a detector and having it installed will need to call the Town Office at 897-3321. 

“We are not going to go door-to-door,” he said.  

The department wouldn’t have the manpower to canvas the whole town in a single day but if it does not get many requests, it may go to different areas in town to inform people about the program.

“We will wait and see,” Hastings said.