Volunteers install free smoke alarms
Ryan Troth had one requirement for picking his Eagle Scout service project: He wanted to save people’s lives.
Some scouts work on building playgrounds or creating walking trails, but Ryan, 15, wanted his project to mean something more. On Saturday, Ryan, a freshman at Freedom High School, did just that when he coordinated a group of volunteers canvassing Bethlehem Township neighborhoods to install free smoke alarms.
“I wanted to have a bigger impact,” Ryan said. “I think this is a good way.”
Thanks to Ryan’s efforts, about 50 volunteers were visiting Bethlehem Township homes on a sunny Saturday with a ladder, bucket full of smoke alarms and fire safety knowledge. In small groups, they were offering to install at least three alarms in homes, free of charge. Volunteers didn’t leave until they heard the “chirp, chirp, chirp” signaling the fire alarms were working.
Organizers had a goal of visiting 50 homes Saturday and placing 150 alarms. As of 1:30 p.m., they had hit 75 homes, with more than 160 alarms installed. They expected the number of alarms to grow to more than 200 placed before they finished.
Saturday was also part of a nationwide Red Cross campaign focused on at-risk communities called Sound the Alarm. At a similar event recently in Allentown, the Red Cross installed more than 600 smoke alarms, said Kristopher Dumschat, Red Cross disaster specialist.
“There are a lot of homes in the Lehigh Valley that do not have smoke alarms or do not have working smoke alarms,” Dumschat said. “Knowing that we have installed a couple hundred alarms today and making these homes safer will make this community safer and save lives.”
Rosie Ellicott, lead volunteer with the Red Cross, worked with Ryan for the last few months. This project meant a lot to her, she said.
“It breaks my heart when I hear people died in fires and they didn’t have smoke alarms,” Ellicott said.
Ryan, who started as a Cub Scout in first grade, spent the last few weeks hanging posters around neighborhoods and community centers to encourage people to volunteer Saturday. In addition to installing the fire alarms, Ryan is organizing a community blood drive May 30 at the Nancy Run Fire Company in Bethlehem Township.
Safety means a lot to Ryan. As the senior patrol leader of his troop, he teaches skills in first aid and camping to the younger scouts.
Typically, Eagle Scouts complete their service projects a few years older than Ryan. But Ryan thought it made sense to finish this milestone before he gets too busy with high school.
That didn’t surprise Ryan’s scout leader, Andrew Azan.
“He’s very serious,” Azan said with a chuckle. “He has his mind set on earning his Eagle Scout.”
Morning Call reporter Jacqueline Palochko can be reached at 610-820-6613 or at jpalochko @mcall.com.