With 20-plus years as a paramedic, including about 10 with Boothbay Region Ambulance Service where he now serves, Scott Lash knows well the importance smoke detectors have to safety in the home.

A stretch of home fires in Lincoln County and around the state in recent months drives home the need for safety measures including the detectors, Lash and fellow Lincoln County Board of Realtors member Sherri Dunbar said. With some group brainstorming, the board came up with the idea to donate smoke detectors to area fire departments and invite the public to join in the effort.

Every year, the board picks a housing-related cause to help, such as getting homes winterized, Lash, of Waldoboro, said. So with the recent fires on everyone’s mind, the detector effort just made sense, he said in a phone interview Dec. 3.

Dunbar wrote about the campaign in a Dec. 1 email to the Wiscasset Newspaper. “We want to do something that will help protect our community. We are asking all our members to donate new smoke alarms or combination smoke/carbon monoxide alarms to be distributed to area departments where they will be provided to anyone in need. Our efforts will assist the American Red Cross ... the State Fire Marshal, local fire departments and community partners in their five-year initiative to reduce deaths and injuries from home fires by 25 percent.”

In a phone interview Dec. 3, Wiscasset Fire Chief T.J. Merry called the board of realtors’ plan to donate detectors a great idea. “We’ll help in any way we can,” Merry said.

Dunbar asked that anyone wanting to donate a new detector call her at 882-5020, Bill Crocker at 882-6449 or Julie Cromwell at 882-9100 to arrange for it to be picked up.