Free fire alarms give a lifeline to hearing-impaired residents

Evan Tuchinsky

If you are like many Marlburians, you can hear the telltale peal of a fire alarm. But what if your hearing fades, or you are deaf from birth? Smoke detectors might as well be trees falling in the forest without making a sound.

That problem with potentially deadly consequences has a solution. An organisation called Your Way | Kia Roha provides equipment to hearing-impaired people living alone -- and does so for free.

Lewis Jones, a Blenheim-based Community Readiness and Recovery Advisor for Fire and Emergency NZ, has worked with the programme for around 20 years.

Demand is rising, he says; in just the past two-and-a-half years, he has put systems into at least 50 homes across Marlborough. Most are in town, but he’s gone as far out as Havelock and Wairau Valley as well as Picton.

“It gives people a lot of peace of mind,” Lewis says. He got reassured of that recently. Lewis received a call from the husband of a hearing-impaired woman who often is home alone because the husband travels often for work. One night as he checked a preexisting smoke detector in their home, the alarm blared for five minutes -- yet his wife slept through it.

Your Way’s system is very hard to sleep through. When any of the integrated smoke detectors goes off, it also triggers a strobe light that flashes brightly and a bed shaker that vibrates strongly.

The equipment costs over $2,000. However, for people who qualify, Your Way covers the cost out of government funding.

“It’s an amazing system,” Lewis says. “The fact that it’s provided by various means in the state puts it within the reach of those people who would not necessarily be able to afford it.”

To start the process, call 0800 008 011 or email [email protected] More info on the website www.yourwaykiaroha.nz.