On Friday, March 23, 2012, my wife and I were driving to dinner in remote Northern New Mexico. We had just enjoyed a great day of skiing. However, this story is not about skiing.
We were looking for a little pizza joint in a tiny town called Mora. We had eaten there before.
As we drove past the little houses, bungalows, and trailers, I was taking in the remoteness of it all. Being in the alarm business, it occurred that if there was a house fire, response would be long in coming, unlike Metro Houston where I live. I noticed the vacant Volunteer Fire Dept on the edge of town, with it’s two roll up doors. That did give me some comfort.
Fast forward to after dinner, as we are driving out of town, back to our cabin – we spot a trailer home on fire, about 50 yards off the road. The only flames are framing a single window, farthest from the front door, most likely the master bedroom. We pull over, and Dee asks “what do we do? ”
I respond “I’ll call 911.”
“How do you know where we are?”
I’m already talking to the local sheriff,”there’s a trailer house on fire, 3 miles north of Cleveland on 518, on the right.”. Somehow, I remembered exactly where we were, not normal for me.
“Sir is anyone inside?”
“I’m going to check now”- I was already walking towards the house. Two other passers by pull up. I check the door, locked. I start banging on the window and yelling, listening. I walk around the structure. No cars, hopefully no one inside. I thought I heard something. Panic. Just noise from the fire. No water hose in sight. I feel Helpless.
Approximately 3 minutes later, a volunteer fireman arrived on the scene, in a personal car, with no apparatus. Then the homeowner pulled up, and we all watched the fire grow. Still no truck, and it’s now out of control. At this point, it seems the best I can do is leave and make room for the hopefully soon to arrive fire truck.
Now, I reflect; how can a guy driving a $40K pickup truck not spend $20 a month for fire alarm monitoring? Maybe he didn’t know it was available? Was that the fault of his local alarm company? Did they not reach out and let him know it was available? As an industry, do we spend too much time and effort marketing our security monitoring services, but fail to educate our communities about fire protection?
Ironically, at OMNI Fire and Security, we often explain to our clients that fire monitoring is more important than security. We mention that with a non-monitored smoke detector, if you aren’t at home, no one will know there is a fire until flames are leaping out of the roof. In fact, I could hear the smoke detector in this home when standing at the door.
Burglars take a few things, fire takes everything.
In an effort to reach out,and make fire monitoring affordable for everyone, we make the following offer: For just the cost of the equipment (parts only) we will install a Honeywell or DMP fire alarm in your home, and monitor it for only $14 per month. You’ll need a regular phone line for this service, or, add $10 for cellular service. If you already have our home monitoring service, of course there is no additional monthly fee to monitor fire.
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