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‘Katie Project’ a fire-safety model begins in Arlington Hts.

Six weeks after a deadly fire in Arlington Heights took the lives of three women, a grass-roots initiative to promote fire safety took flight.

Named in memory of a 7-year-old Palatine girl who died in a house fire nearly 40 years ago, The Katie Project drew teenage volunteers from St. Viator High School as well as adults from Arlington Heights.

They all responded to the project’s simple premise: Volunteers go into the homes of elderly residents to make sure the smoke detectors are working, and change out the batteries or the detectors themselves if they are not. Residents need not be elderly, either — if they don’t know how to change a battery or can’t reach it, they can call for an appointment.

Arlington Heights Village Trustee Joe Farwell named the initiative for his young cousin, Katie O’Neill, who died in 1974. While that memory has haunted him, he says, the more recent fire drove him to take action.

The Nov. 6 fire in the 300 block of South Dunton Avenue killed Doris Miller, 93; her caretaker Tetiana Krych, 62; and Krych’s daughter, Svitana Kandelis, 40.

The fire went unnoticed because of an inoperable smoke detector until officers at the nearby Arlington Heights police station smelled the smoke from a few blocks away.

“When firefighters found a smoke detector in the house that didn’t work, that struck a chord with me,” Farwell said. “I wondered how many homes in a 100-yard radius of that house had smoke detectors that didn’t work. That’s when I decided we needed to take action.”

He partnered with the village and the Arlington Heights Fire Department to launch the program. Within a week of publicizing the project, calls starting pouring in.

On Saturday, the first group of volunteers gathered with Arlington Heights firefighters for a brief training session. Lt. Andrew Larson, public education director for the department, described where smoke detectors and carbon monoxide alarms should be located and their vital role in providing fire safety in homes.

St. Viator freshman Gabrysia Sniadowski of Arlington Heights said she needed to fulfill community service hours for her school, but that’s not what motivated her.

“My grandfather died in a fire,” she said. “And I knew the Finnerty family (whose parents and young son died in a house fire). I thought this was a really cool thing to do. It’s something I can do to help.”

Another volunteer on hand was Misty Hammond of Sycamore, who works as a registered nurse at Northwest Community Hospital in Arlington Heights.

“I know how important it is to check smoke detector batteries,” Hammond said, “especially in the homes of the elderly.”

Teens worked with adult team captains, who had a list, village map (and a stepladder) before setting out. New batteries were donated by the Illinois State Fire Marshall, and new smoke detectors were donated by local businesses.

In all, they hoped to stop at 10 Arlington Heights homes. Larson himself already visited three houses last week, including one of a single mother.

“This is a community partnership,” Larson said. “It’s a joint effort to promote working smoke detectors.

“Before, we’ve always pitched the ‘change your clock, change your batteries’ promotion to homeowners,” he added. “But now we’re going into the homes and helping them check for fire safety. It’s pretty unique.”

Farwell said he hopes to make The Katie Project a monthly effort, and that the village and fire department will continue to take names of residents needing their units checked.

He also pointed to the A-OK Program, run jointly by Northwest Suburban High School District 214 and Wheeling Township, which sends teen volunteers to the homes of senior residents twice a year to do light maintenance and yard work, as well as check smoke detector batteries.

Farwell indicated the two programs are mulling combining efforts and expanding, but their talks are preliminary at this point.

  Arlington Heights Village Trustee Joe Farwell, left, and Fire Department Lt. Andrew Larson show how a smoke alarm is removed from its mounting plate. In the foreground are St. Viator High School students Gabrysia Sniadowski, left, and Katie Murphy. JOE LEWNARD/jlewnard@dailyherald.com
  In the event they are needed, these smoke alarms are being brought by volunteers to help assure that there are working devices in the homes of senior citizens. JOE LEWNARD/jlewnard@dailyherald.com

Want your smoke detector checked and/or the batteries changed?

To sign up for a home check, Arlington Heights residents should call the village manager’s office at (847) 368-5100. Those who want to volunteers should also call that number.

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