fire-gutted apartment building across Rt. 50

On January 6, a fire in the basement of the apartment building at 1523 Fairfax Dr., straight across the the Rosslyn walkway over Rt. 50, forced all residents to abandon the building. The Arlington County Fire Department Station 3 unofficial website has good coverage of the fire down toward the bottom of its page. This is a tragic, real-world example of the importance of fire safety planning.

You might also note the passing of Arlington Fire Department Retired Captain Elbert F. Green, Jr. Captain Randy Higgins offers a fine tribute to Captain Green:

His territory knowledge was second to none. He not only knew every street, alley and shortcut he could also tell you the color of the house, the name of the owner, the name of their kids and the [name of] their pets. You could never stump him on a territory drill. He was an all-around firefighter.

get a free smoke detector

Captain Rick Genest of Fire Station 10 in Rosslyn emphasized in his talk at the April RAFOM meeting the importance of smoke detectors. Now I've gotten word from RAFOM President Stan Karson that Captain Genest is offering free 10-year lithium-battery smoke detectors to neighborhood residents. The Fire Department will even install the smoke detector for you.

To request a smoke detector, call Arlington County Fire Department, Station 10, at 703-228-0110, or email Captain Genest at Rgenes2 at arlingtonva.us

The goal is to have a smoke detector in every bedroom and at least one on each floor in every dwelling in the neighborhood. Potentially save your life, your neighbor's life, and a lot of property -- all for free. Get a smoke detector right away!

Update: I got one for my bedroom.