The City Of Oxford Fire Department is applying for a $70,400 grant, which would enable new smoke detectors to be installed in rental homes.
The money will come from the fire prevention and safety grant administered by the federal government, according to Fire Chief John Detherage. The grant will allow the city to install 4,400 new photoelectronic smoke detectors in rental units throughout the city.
If Oxford receives the grant, the city must also contribute 10 percent, or $7,040, to the smoke detectors, according to Oxford City Manager Doug Elliott.
"We hope to find some local sources to help us match the grant, but first we need to get the grant," Elliott said.
Rental homes around the city currently have ionization detectors, Detherage said. The ionization detectors detect rapid-burning fires very well but do not detect slow-building fires, according to Detherage.
The photoelectronic detectors are able to recognize slow-building fires, such as a fire from a cigarette, Detherage said.
"They're the best thing on the market for this kind of fire," Detherage said.
The push to have photoelectronic detectors installed was spurred by the house fire that killed three Miami University students in 2005, Detherage said. The fire was slow-building and the smoke alarms in the house did not detect it.
"If we had these smoke detectors then, the fire could have had a different outcome," Detherage said.
Detherage said he hopes the photoelectronic detectors will soon be required by law. If the city provides some of the smoke detectors before the law requires them, it will ease the burden on homeowners, according to Detherage.
The fire department plans on partnering with Miami's Greek community to install the smoke detectors around the city, Detherage said.
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The Office of Fraternity and Sorority Life and Leadership is very interested in the project, but the plans to install the smoke detectors are still tentative, Detherage said.
Miami junior Rachel Petri said she thinks the smoke detectors are a good investment, especially since money for the detectors will be coming from the federal government.
"Hopefully the new smoke detectors will prevent situations like the fire that killed three people," Petri said.
Senior Stephanie Walters agreed the new detectors would be beneficial and said she was excited the Greek community would be involved in the project.
"I think it's a great idea for the Greek community to get involved," Walters said. "We have a bad reputation, but we actually do a lot of good."
The federal government will let the City of Oxford know if it has received the grant after a board has reviewed it, a process that usually takes several months, according to Detherage.
Detherage said if the city does not receive the money, it will keep reapplying for the grant.
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