State Fire Marshal receives grant for carbon monoxide alarms

The Louisiana State Fire Marshal's Office (SFMO) has been selected as one of the first award recipients of a new federal grant, aimed at reducing carbon monoxide (CO) poisoning nationwide.

The U.S. Consumer Product Safety Commission's (CPSC) Carbon Monoxide Poisoning Prevention Grant Program (COPPGP) awarded the SFMO $50,000 to purchase hundreds of carbon monoxide detectors and generator safety signs. The goal is to increase awareness of the dangers of CO, especially as it relates to generator use, and to improve CO poisoning prevention efforts throughout the state, as maintained by the SFMO.

The program, authorized by the Nicholas and Zachary Burt Memorial Carbon Monoxide Poisoning Prevention Act of 2022, provides grants to eligible state, local, and tribal governments to purchase and install CO alarms in low-income and elderly homes and facilities that serve children and the elderly, including daycare centers, public schools, and senior centers, officials say.

“We are overjoyed to make this announcement as we ask Louisianans to continue to be conscious of their generator use heading into the heart of hurricane season,” said State Fire Marshal Chief Bryan Adams. “Having a game plan for disaster includes ways to prevent disaster altogether. This grant helps us do that by educating residents about generator safety and equipping families that use generators with a critical carbon monoxide warning tool like these detectors."

Louisiana is one of 22 recipients receiving a combined total of $3 million in funding for this first-time effort. According to the SFMO, one of the deciding factors for Louisiana’s award was the new carbon monoxide law that went into effect on January 1, 2023. The law requires all one and two-family dwellings to have at least one sealed-in battery CO alarm installed at the time of lease or sale.

Similar to the free smoke alarm installation program Operation Save-A-Life, the SFMO will partner with local fire departments to provide these CO detectors to families that need them most and to distribute the generator safety signs in the immediate aftermath of a disaster involving widespread, extended power outages.