MENDOTA – If you placed a delivery from Pizzas by Marchelloni on Oct. 9, you may have been surprised by the vehicle in front of your house and the people who handed you your order.
For National Fire Prevention Month in October and Fire Prevention Week (Oct. 6-12), the Mendota Fire Department gassed up both a fire truck and an ambulance to deliver pizzas to raise awareness for how important an active smoke alarm is in homes and businesses.
“It’s one of these fun things we’ve talked about doing for quite a while. Hopefully, we can make it a tradition,” said Mendota firefighter and paramedic Justin Setchell. “It’s really nice to get out there during Fire Prevention Month, interact with people, drum up some support, and remind people how important smoke detectors are to saving lives.”
Setchell was joined by Lonny Eisenberg, Ben Daly, Jen Coppes, and Brady Rutishauser on the delivery routes.
When the fire department and Nick Arteaga, Marchelloni’s general manager who assisted them on all food calls, made the delivery, they asked if the customer had a working fire alarm.
If they had a fire alarm, they were given a $25 Marchelloni’s gift certificate. If they had an alarm, but it wasn’t working, the MFD provided batteries. If there wasn’t a smoke detector, the department provided the device.
According to the National Fire Protection Association, working smoke alarms reduce the risk of dying in a home fire by more than half, 54 percent. Also, 28 percent of fire fatalities occur when the alarm failed to alert occupants and 9 percent occurred when the occupants were alerted but failed to respond.
Almost three of every five home fire deaths resulted from fires in homes with no smoke alarms (40 %) or no working smoke alarms (17 %).
Arteaga was glad the Mendota Fire Department called Pizzas by Marchelloni for the event.
“It was pretty cool riding around with the Mendota Fire Department. I was in my vehicle, and they followed me in the fire truck and the ambulance,” Arteaga said. “No one was expecting a fire truck and an ambulance to deliver their pizza. The faces on people were pretty funny. They were shocked.
“We’re all about doing things for the community. It was fun to partner with the fire department. It was a good time for a good cause.”
The MFD said they want to deliver pizzas every year and plan to share Fire Prevention Week and Fire Prevention Month with other delivery services in Mendota in the future.
