MPIRE Properties announced it would donate smoke detectors to sixth graders in Great Bend during Fire Prevention Week, Oct. 9-15.

House fires cause an average of 2,620 civilian deaths each year – 500 of those being children under the age of 14. MPIRE Properties is doing its part to reduce that number, said Alan Burton, CFO.

“We do property inspections all the time, helping our tenants stay safe in their homes with the proper number and placement of smoke detectors,” Burton said. “I’ve seen firsthand how quickly a fire can start and escalate out of control, so this is our way of not only educating kids on the importance of fire safety, but also possibly saving a life at some point in the future.”

Homes with smoke alarms have almost half as many fire-related deaths compared with homes without smoke alarms, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. Students filled out forms indicating if they had fire prevention methods in their homes. If they don’t have working smoke detectors, MPIRE Properties provides them to those households.

Burton, Jason Mayers, owner, and Mikayla Bownes, property manager, along with the City of Great Bend’s Fire Inspector Mike Smith and USD 428’s Superintendent Khris Thexton, presented the life-saving devices during special Fire Prevention Week assemblies. 

“MPIRE Properties invests a lot in the communities we serve in central and western Kansas, all with the goal of providing safe, affordable, and well-kept housing for our tenants,” Mayers, said. “These smoke detectors are a simple way that we can give the gift of safety to these students and their families.”