Indiana’s State Fire Marshal will use federal grant money to provide smoke alarms to thousands of Hoosier homes, after an increase in fatal house fires statewide.  IPR’s Stephanie Wiechmann reports.

The Indiana Department of Homeland Security grant of $521,000 will fund 10,000 smoke alarms with special 10-year batteries, as well as 1,000 alarms for deaf and hard-of-hearing Hoosiers.  Those special alarms have a strobe light and shake function – they’re meant to be placed on a person’s bed at night.

The State Fire Marshal’s office says the program requires a local fire department or participating organization to install the alarms in a person’s home.  There’s an online application to get the alarms, both for individual Hoosier homes and fire departments that want to keep a stock of alarms handy.

State numbers show there were 93 deaths by house fire in 2018, up from 72 the year before.  When announcing the grant, Fire Marshal Jim Greeson says a working smoke alarm gives someone the best chance of escaping serious injury or death in a fire.