ANKENY, Iowa (AP) — The state fire marshal plans to join with firefighters from around Iowa to announce two grants totaling nearly $300,000 that will fund the purchase and installation of smoke alarms. State Fire Marshal Ray Reynolds will announce the $245,000 federal smoke alarm grant and a $50,000 grant from State Farm Insurance. Reynolds says it’s his goal that every Iowa child grow up in a home with a smoke alarm.
The announcement will be this (Tuesday) morning at a Casey’s General Stores warehouse in Ankeny. The business has helped the effort by letting officials make use of its statewide distribution network to deliver smoke alarms to firefighters across the state. The grants ultimately will pay for more than 11,600 smoke alarms in 2013.