Forsyth fire gets hearing-impaired grant

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.