Miss-Delectable
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http://fredericksburg.com/News/FLS/2005/112005/11182005/141248
Piercing beeps and bright flashes of light went off in the Jacob family's Spotsylvania County residence yesterday.
It was the smoke detector.
Marie Jacob and her three children weren't worried. The new visual smoke detectors were set off to ensure they worked.
They were installed by Josh Covington, a sophomore at Stafford High School, for his Eagle Scout project.
Josh, 15, installed one visual smoke detector in the bedroom of Juan Jacob, a 19-year-old deaf senior at Massaponax High School. Josh installed another in the foyer so it could be seen from several rooms in the split-level home.
Daniel Luckett and Brian Lynn, members of Josh's Boy Scout troop, helped.
"I'm happy because I've never had a smoke detector like that," Juan said in sign language.
Josh bought visual smoke detectors that don't require hard-wiring. The small appliances with speaker and strobe light can just be plugged into an outlet. They have a battery as a backup power source.
"They can be taken to hotels if you travel," Josh explained to Marie Jacob.
Juan can take the detectors with him when he moves out on his own, added Martha Covington, Josh's mother.
Josh plans to install eight more visual smoke detectors in four residences to complete his project.
Visual smoke detectors cannot be purchased in local hardware or electronic stores, said Arva Priola, outreach coordinator for the deaf and hard of hearing at the disAbility Resource Center in Fredericksburg.
They're expensive, too. Josh bought 10 online for $170 from a company called Gentex.
"There's only one company that supplies them--that's one of the bigger problems people have getting them, aside from the fact that they're really expensive," he said.
Josh picked his project after his mother, who teaches American Sign Language at Brooke Point High School in Stafford, told him about the need for visual smoke detectors.
Few people are aware that such a need exists, Martha Covington said.
"Part of his project is community awareness--to make the community aware of what needs to be done for people with disability," she said.
The Virginia Department of Housing and Community Development requires that landlords or building owners install smoke detectors for the deaf and hearing impaired upon request.
Many deaf and hearing-impaired people are unaware of the requirement, and landlords often ignore the requests that do come in, Martha Covington said.
Josh distributed a survey through the disAbility Resource Center last year to find people who needed the detectors.
He sought donations from his church, Bethel Baptist Church on White Oak Road in Stafford, and local businesses.
The detectors will be useful for the entire Jacob family.
Marie Jacob suffered third-degree burns last year when a frying pan caught on fire while she was cooking. Her other children didn't hear her screams because of loud music. They realized there was a fire after they smelled the smoke, she said.
"I wanted to be involved--to know something happened," Juan said of the incident.
Piercing beeps and bright flashes of light went off in the Jacob family's Spotsylvania County residence yesterday.
It was the smoke detector.
Marie Jacob and her three children weren't worried. The new visual smoke detectors were set off to ensure they worked.
They were installed by Josh Covington, a sophomore at Stafford High School, for his Eagle Scout project.
Josh, 15, installed one visual smoke detector in the bedroom of Juan Jacob, a 19-year-old deaf senior at Massaponax High School. Josh installed another in the foyer so it could be seen from several rooms in the split-level home.
Daniel Luckett and Brian Lynn, members of Josh's Boy Scout troop, helped.
"I'm happy because I've never had a smoke detector like that," Juan said in sign language.
Josh bought visual smoke detectors that don't require hard-wiring. The small appliances with speaker and strobe light can just be plugged into an outlet. They have a battery as a backup power source.
"They can be taken to hotels if you travel," Josh explained to Marie Jacob.
Juan can take the detectors with him when he moves out on his own, added Martha Covington, Josh's mother.
Josh plans to install eight more visual smoke detectors in four residences to complete his project.
Visual smoke detectors cannot be purchased in local hardware or electronic stores, said Arva Priola, outreach coordinator for the deaf and hard of hearing at the disAbility Resource Center in Fredericksburg.
They're expensive, too. Josh bought 10 online for $170 from a company called Gentex.
"There's only one company that supplies them--that's one of the bigger problems people have getting them, aside from the fact that they're really expensive," he said.
Josh picked his project after his mother, who teaches American Sign Language at Brooke Point High School in Stafford, told him about the need for visual smoke detectors.
Few people are aware that such a need exists, Martha Covington said.
"Part of his project is community awareness--to make the community aware of what needs to be done for people with disability," she said.
The Virginia Department of Housing and Community Development requires that landlords or building owners install smoke detectors for the deaf and hearing impaired upon request.
Many deaf and hearing-impaired people are unaware of the requirement, and landlords often ignore the requests that do come in, Martha Covington said.
Josh distributed a survey through the disAbility Resource Center last year to find people who needed the detectors.
He sought donations from his church, Bethel Baptist Church on White Oak Road in Stafford, and local businesses.
The detectors will be useful for the entire Jacob family.
Marie Jacob suffered third-degree burns last year when a frying pan caught on fire while she was cooking. Her other children didn't hear her screams because of loud music. They realized there was a fire after they smelled the smoke, she said.
"I wanted to be involved--to know something happened," Juan said of the incident.