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October is Fire Prevention Month, the theme for which in 2024 is “Smoke Alarms: make them work for you!”

“Roughly three out of five fire deaths that we’ve had in the past few years, they happen in the homes where there’s no smoke alarms or ones that are not working, so we’ve gone into fires where there’s a smoke alarm but the crew that goes in said ‘I didn’t hear any smoke alarms going off,’” said Radcliff Deputy Fire Marshal Tommy Crane. 

Crane says people often take a dying battery out and fail to replace it, but when a smoke alarm sounds you typically only have two minutes to get to safety, so take the time to make sure the smoke detector is in working order. In addition to checking the batteries, check on the smoke alarm itself.

“Change them out every 10 years, so every 10 years change those smoke alarms out,” Crane said. “The effectiveness goes down through the years. The other thing is there’s new technology. A smoke alarm that was manufactured 20 years ago has a different sound than the newer smoke alarms, so the newer smoke alarms have a standard they have to meet.”

Make sure you have enough smoke alarms to cover the entire home.

“Install smoke alarms in every bedroom,” Crane said. “Install them outside of each sleeping area, and also install them on every level, including areas like your basement, even if it’s an area that’s not occupied. A lot of people, their basement has their furnace, maybe their washer, their dryer, their water heater. Those are things to consider because those things have the potential for fire.”

Visit the National Fire Prevention Association on the web to learn more about Fire Prevention Month.

Elizabethtown Community and Technical College and Family Scholar House will begin collecting food for their annual Thanksgiving Meal Drive Monday.

“Everyone deserves to have a great Thanksgiving, and that includes the students at Elizabethtown Community and Technical College who may be working hard in their classes, maybe they are already in the early stages of their career and also trying to raise families, and sometimes folks just need a little assistance to get that Thanksgiving meal on the table,” said ECTC Director of Marketing and Public Affairs Sarah Berkshire. 

Berkshire said community members looking to support the college’s students have a great opportunity to do so.

“We know there are so many people out there who want to help students in that situation, and so we’ve got a lot of great partners lined up to serve as drop off sites for the Thanksgiving Meal Drive, and our goal this year is to make sure that we can serve at least 100 students,” Berkshire said.

The drive runs from October 14 through November 15.

“They can purchase and drop off a whole or partial meal,” Berkshire said. “There are two locations on our campus in Elizabethtown, and then there are about seven or eight other locations throughout the community. All of those, as well as all of the items that are needed, are listed on our website, and for those who maybe don’t have time to shop and drop off, they can make a monetary donation.”

Visit ECTC’s website or contact Chrissie Angell to learn more about ways to support the college’s students.

The Elizabethtown Police Department responded to a serious traffic accident in E-Town Wednesday.

“Shortly before five o’clock Wednesday evening, we responded to a motor vehicle collision in the area of the U.S. 31W bypass and U.S. 62,” said EPD Public Information Officer Chris Denham. “Our investigation revealed that a red Chevy truck driven by an adult female was traveling eastbound on U.S. 62 in an attempt to turn under the ramp to the southbound bypass. The truck crossed into the path of a westbound Chevy passenger car, resulting in a collision.”

Both of the occupants of the passenger car sustained serious injuries and were transported from the scene. The driver of the truck was also transported for medical care.

The EPD says no criminal charges are expected as a result of the crash.