Bill Gaudet stepped back and looked at a new smoke detector he just helped put up in a house off East Tallmadge Avenue in Akron’s North Hill area.
“Beautiful. Another safer home,” said Gaudet, Goodyear’s director of global engineering. The place, near North Main Street, was home to a married couple and their five young children.
Gaudet was among 16 volunteers from Goodyear on Thursday who took part of their day to install as many as four smoke detectors in each of 37 Akron homes, all at no cost to the homeowners.
Putting in new smoke alarms was among the activities that kicked off the first day of a weeklong new community program by Goodyear Tire & Rubber Co. More than 1,100 employees are expected to donate their time in Akron as well as at some of Goodyear’s other global locations by the time the volunteer program ends next week.
Gaudet and Goodyear employees Steven Shaffer and Dave Wood made up one of the smoke detector installation teams that fanned out across Akron.
The homes they went to came through referrals from the American Red Cross chapter headquartered on West Market Street that serves Summit, Portage and Medina counties. Volunteers first met early morning at the Red Cross building to get instructions and to pick up the smoke detectors, tools and stepladders.
They also brought long-lasting batteries in case they found working smoke detectors inside the homes that simply needed new power to work, and handed out fire safety tips and checklists.
“You do have appointments,” said Debbie Chitester, program manager, disaster cycle services for the Red Cross.
Each of the new smoke detectors was equipped with a battery designed to provide power for 10 years. The goal was to install a smoke detector on each floor in a home, including basements and attics.
“It really does save lives,” Chitester said.
The volunteers were told not to stay in a home if they felt uncomfortable or unsafe, including if a homeowner did not corral a pet dog.
Along with Gaudet were Shaffer, Goodyear global security and a firefighter, and Wood, business process consultant.
Wood said the day went well — the group visited all six homes on their list, putting in three or four smoke detectors at each stop. One home had small children living there, while another had a 90-year-old woman and her granddaughter.
“It was good,” Wood said.
He said up until a couple of months ago he did not know the Red Cross provided smoke alarms to local homes in need.
Wood and others in the volunteer group agreed to install smoke alarms in Akron homes again in cooperation with the Red Cross, this time on their own and not as part of a Goodyear-sponsored program. Wood said he thinks it makes sense to put in alarms before people start using such things as space heaters in the winter.
“I think I’m going to try it in the fall,” Wood said.
Jim Mackinnon can be reached at 330-996-3544 or jmackinnon@thebeaconjournal.com. Follow him @JimMackinnonABJ on Twitter or www.facebook.com/JimMackinnonABJ