🚀 go-pugleaf

I wonder if American Citzens can get free smoke detectors from the
chicago fire department?
 remember this "tradegy " happened to an illegal  mexican  who was in
the United States for 16 years and found time to give birth to 9 anchor
babies-
 she had plenty of time to buy a smoke detector


Mindful of tragedy, consulate offers smoke alarms

By Emma Graves Fitzsimmons
Tribune staff reporter
Published October 11, 2006


While applying for an identification card Tuesday at the Mexican
Consulate in Chicago, Marta Mendoza received a free smoke detector from

a firefighter.


She said she was relieved to have one after six children of Mexican
immigrants died in a Rogers Park fire a month ago.


"It is my first one," Mendoza, a Mexican immigrant with two young
children, said in Spanish as she held the smoke detector. "I've been
scared. I don't want the same thing to happen to my family."


The Chicago Fire Department began a program Tuesday to distribute fire
detectors at the consulate, 204 S. Ashland Ave., to educate the city's
largest immigrant population about fire safety.


"We don't want another tragedy," said Consul General Carlos Manuel
Sada, referring to the Rogers Park fire as he passed out more than 70
boxes. "These are necessary."


It is important to make sure every household has a smoke detector
because there have already been 29 deaths in Chicago this year in homes

without one, said Eve Rodriguez, a Fire Department spokeswoman.


The department, which already provides free fire detectors at 100 fire
stations and 50 ward offices, added the Mexican Consulate to the list
of locations after receiving a request from the staff. The program is
funded by private donations to the department. Fire detectors come with

batteries and instructions in Spanish.


Six children died Sept. 3 in a fire caused by a candle in a home that
had been without power for months because the family could not pay the
bill. Chicago fire officials have said they found no smoke detectors in

the unit.


The Mexican Consulate in Chicago flew the children's paternal
grandparents from Mexico to attend services and provided them with a
humanitarian visa, consulate officials said


Fire detectors will be available at the reception desk at the Mexican
Consulate, and the Fire Department will begin holding weekly classes to

teach people how to use them this month, officials said.


The service is a part of the consulate's attempt to reach out to the
more than 1.5 million Mexican immigrants in Illinois beyond just
issuing documents and filing paperwork, said Ambar Gilmore, a
spokeswoman for the consul general. According to the 2000 U.S. census,
there are 582,028 Mexican immigrants living in Chicago.


The consulate offers free legal advice and a class on opening a bank
account, along with providing flu vaccines and testing for sexually
transmitted diseases, Gilmore said.


"It's an office, but we help them out with every problem they
encounter," Gilmore said. "We want to educate our people and give them
a home away from home."


Maria Gomez, a Mexican immigrant who lives in the Irving Park
neighborhood, said she plans to tell family members to go to the
consulate to get a smoke detector of their own. Many Mexican immigrants

do not know they need one because fire detectors are less common across

the border, she said.


"Sometimes, you have so many things going on. But these [smoke
detectors] are good at grabbing your attention," she said. "I'm going
to tell my children this sound means danger."