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Oxnard Fire Department launches two-year campaign to install 2,500 smoke alarms
Summary
Steve McNaughton, City of Oxnard fire marshal, told the INCO general membership that the Fire Department has federal funding to install more than 2,500 smoke alarms and will run neighborhood campaigns and monthly installation events for about two years.
Steve McNaughton, City of Oxnard fire marshal, told the INCO (Neighborhood Council) general membership that the Fire Department has federal funding to install more than 2,500 smoke alarms across the city and will run neighborhood campaigns and monthly installation events for about two years.
“Roughly 60% of home fire deaths happen in homes with no smoke alarms and no working smoke alarm,” McNaughton said, adding that in 2022 the city had five times the national fatality rate for home fires. He said the department obtained its third federal grant to underwrite the installation effort.
The program offers free alarms and on-site installation. McNaughton said the department will prioritize neighborhood campaigns coordinated with INCO members, mobile home parks and other partners, and that crews will install alarms in homes when requested. A smoke alarm coordinator, Lupe, is listed as the scheduling contact at 805-982-7282.
McNaughton reviewed placement and maintenance guidance: alarms should be installed in each bedroom and in hallways outside sleeping areas; combinations with carbon-monoxide detection are available; specialized “bed-rumbler” devices exist for people with hearing disabilities; and newer alarms have a 10-year sealed battery life. He urged monthly testing and periodic cleaning to prevent false activations and to replace units older than 10 years.
On enforcement, McNaughton said state law requires inspection and enforcement in apartment complexes and hotels, which the Fire Department inspects annually. For single-family residences, he said, the City of Oxnard generally lacks authority to enter homes for inspections unless invited, called for during a 911 response, or an ownership transfer triggers the requirement on sale.
The department encouraged neighborhood councils to host presentations and installation events; the Fire Department said it will reach out to INCO members to arrange campaigns and that county and nonprofit partners (Ventura County Fire, American Red Cross) can serve nearby unincorporated areas.
Residents asked about outreach and installations; McNaughton said social media, mailers and direct coordination with mobile-home park managers are already in use and that a few hundred homes were already queued for installation.
The Fire Department left flyers and asked council members to distribute them in their neighborhoods.
