Wintertime marks a season of giving, but also a season of increased risk for
house fires, with the National Fire Protection Association (NFPA) reporting that
home fires occur more in the winter than in any other season.

In the spirit of giving, Amazon warehouse PDX9 in Troutdale partnered with
Hoodland Fire District’s (HFD) Community Emergency Response Team (CERT)
to promote community safety in the winter months by donating one hundred
smoke alarms, including batteries, to citizens in the Mount Hood region in
December.

“I want to stress, without a smoke detector you’re more likely to be injured or
killed in a home fire,” HFD Fire Chief Jim Price said.

An NFPA report states, “Almost three out of five home fire deaths were caused
by fires in properties with no smoke alarms (41 percent) or smoke alarms that
failed to operate (16 percent).”

PDX9 delivered the smoke alarms to HFD’s main station on Dec. 15. While
there, the team from Amazon received a tour of the district’s facilities.
Chief Price noted that the team from PDX9 made it clear they would like to
maintain the partnership and help the district with other areas of need for the
community.

“It’s a local group. It’s Amazon, but this donation is really the Troutdale
warehouse wanting to get involved in the community,” Chief Price said.
The donation occurred after a member of the district’s CERT team, Felecia
Forston, contacted Jodi Knapp at the Amazon Warehouse (PDX9) in Troutdale
about needs for the fire district and community. Knapp was a driving force
behind the donation, connecting PDX9’s Senior Operations Manager Gary
Heath with HFD’s CERT team.

Chief Price added that the team from Amazon PDX9 have donated over 2,068
hours of volunteer work in the region helping with projects to make the local
communities better.

“The district will be working with our CERT team to help get these detectors
out in the community, making the mountain a safer place for all,” Chief Price
said. He stated that the district can inspect and install the smoke detectors for
community members in need of assistance.

Chief Price urged community members to make sure they have an adequate
number of smoke detectors in their homes and inspect them to make sure
they operate properly.

“Smoke detectors save lives; it’s their primary purpose. Also, a smoke
detector will sense a fire before a person can smell or see a fire, allow for an
early response from firefighters and limit the extent of fire damage,” Chief
Price said.

Community members can contact HFD for information on how to acquire the
donated smoke detectors from the CERT team.

HFD can be contacted by phone at 503-622-3256, or by email at
hoodland@hoodlandfire.org. Amazon’s PDX9 warehouse can be reached by
phone at 888-892-7180.