Deadly residential fires  led to volunteers spanning the City of Logansport in 2018 and 2019 to install free smoke detectors provided by the American Red Cross and other sources.

Thoiugh October is Fire Prevention Month -- typically the time when Logansport acknowledges and honors its Firefighter of the Year -- there is no announced program to either provide smoke detectors to local residents, to install them or to test them. According to the city's own Web site, 88 percent of American homes have detectors, but detectors are not always tested regularly or equipped with working batteries.

It's customary to remind local residents -- even with signs at the City Building -- to check their smoke detector batteries. Traditionally, the time usually recommended for checking batteries is when the time springs forward in the spring or back in the fall. But the mayor's office has a broken mainspring, which is why nearly 33 dozen people have signed our petition demanding that Maron Chris Martin resign and that the city council replace him with a qualified, certified city manager.

Please join us in ensuring that public safety is not a forgotten priority in our city. Thank you for caring for Logansport's future and the safety of all of us.