The Forsyth County Fire Department nabbed a $3,000 grant enabling it to purchase specialized smoke alarms and bedside fire alarms/clocks designed for the hearing-impaired.

Division chief Jason Shivers said the smoke alarms are equipped with a strobe light to alert those with hearing issues to smoke and fire, and the clocks include a bed shaker to rouse the sleeping. Forsyth fire officials said the grant‘s enabled several households to get the gear, part of a program under which the department installs units free of charge for hearing-impaired residents unable to afford them.

The money came from the Chesney Fallen Firefighters Memorial Grant Award program, named in honor of a fallen Gwinnett firefighter.

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Ceudy Gutierrez reads a book to her 2-year-old son, Matias, at their home in Buford, GA, on Tuesday, Nov. 18, 2025. Ceudy Gutierrez is struggling to make ends meet for herself and her three young kids following her husband’s ICE arrest earlier this fall. (Miguel Martinez/ AJC)

Credit: Miguel Martinez-Jimenez