KEMP, OK-The death of a Sherman toddler from burns she suffered in a housefire touched the hearts of some firefighters in Bryan County. Now, their department is stepping in to help prevent tragedies like this and save lives in their own community.
The Kemp Volunteer Fire Department covers Kemp, Hendrix and Liberty, which included over 5,000 people. Just a few weeks ago, they discovered that most of the residents don't have a working smoke detector in their homes. So firefighters, along with one Durant hardware store, partnered up to make sure residents get the protection they need in case of a fire.
Several Kemp Volunteer firefighters went door-to-door Friday afternoon installing new smoke detectors for dozens of area residents, one of them is Mary Kuneman.

"I had one but it's been here forever and it didn't work, I don't think it works so I'm glad now that they put a new one in," she said.

Kuneman had her old smoke detector since the 1980's and it hasn't been replaced until now.

"There's always other things you think are more important than that. I just got too much going on," she said.

"There's a lot of houses that don't even have smoke detectors and ones that do have, either the batteries are no good to them or the smoke detectors need to be changed," which worried Kemp firefighter, Bryan Dickerson, who took the problem to his chief, Jeremy Sisemore.

"It's kind of scary I mean, the smoke detectors save your life. Because if the smoke wakes you up in the middle of the night, it's too late," said Sisemore.

So Dickerson headed to Lowe's in Durant to make a deal to provide the town with smoke detectors. Then he got a call that took him completely by surprise, the hardware store decided to donate 300 new smoke detectors.

"That's amazing. You know, that will cover probably 150 houses, that will cover a lot of our territory," Dickerson said.

He said the importance of smoke detectors hit close to home when he heard about the Christmas eve house fire that killed a 2-year-old Sherman girl.

"It's just mainly to protect our community and save somebody's life. Like ya'll's newscast from last night, it's really an eye opener for someone who doesn't have a smoke detector especially if you have little ones," he said.

Now that she has her new smoke detector, Kuneman wants to express her appreciation.

“I just want to thank them and tell them how much we appreciate, not just me but the whole town, appreciates their time and effort and what they do for us," she said.

If you need a smoke detector or someone to install them for you, stop by Kemp Volunteer Fire Department or call them at (580)838-2175.

Kemp Volunteer Fire Department
501 Church St.
Kemp, OK