PHOTOS: Ocoee Fire Department's 'Celebration of the Lives'

The Ocoee Fire Department partnered with the American Red Cross to host the “Celebration of the Lives” event on Thursday, Sept. 15. 

The event honored the lives of a family that were saved from a fire by smoke detectors installed a few years earlier, a result of a smoke detector blitz conducted by the Ocoee Fire Department in 2016. 

Thomas Smothers, Ocoee Fire Department chief, said the department has conducted several blitzes in the past and, although they were halted by the pandemic, the department plans to bring them back. 

Smothers, Jose Bueno, ARC regional preparedness manager, Janice Moran, ARC of Greater Orlando executive director and Mentha Antoine, ARC disaster program specialist were some of the special guest speakers. 

Bueno said nationally, more than 2.3 million free smoke alarms have been installed, making more than 982,000 families safer and more than 1.8 million youth have been trained in emergency preparedness.

“We can’t do this alone,” he said. “We have to work together with our fire department and with our community partners.”