In the Heritage District, volunteers fanned out to install free lithium smoke alarms Saturday. It was part of a statewide safety initiative led by the Arizona Burn Foundation.

“This is really cool,” said Maricopa’s community risk reduction specialist, Daniel Wehle. “We did this 10 years ago, and the alarms last about that long, so it’s time again.”

The homes are among the few in the city that are not hard-wired for smoke alarms, making this outreach crucial. Wehle led teams made up of Fire Corps volunteers and members of the community, aiming to install as many detectors as possible before noon.

“We’re hoping to get 100 alarms in today,” added Rex Albright, a program leader with the Burn Foundation. With each house getting between two to three smoke detectors, they’re in each home for less than 15 minutes.

The team is also working to raise awareness about specialized alarms for residents who are deaf or hard of hearing, an often-overlooked population in smoke detectors.

“If someone out here needs one today, we’ve got a system ready,” said Albright. “But we usually return on a separate day with specialized teams. We want to make sure nobody’s left behind.”

The statewide initiative has already installed around 2,500 smoke alarms across 24 communities in 2025 so far.

By summer’s end, Albright hopes they’ll have installed 2,700.