In this episode of Galesburg’s Morning News, Fire Chief Randy Hovind (26-year veteran) and Captain Ben Caruana explain why working smoke alarms reduce your chance of dying in a home fire by up to 60%, share real Galesburg stories where alarms gave families the critical seconds they needed to escape (and the tragic cases where they were missing), and detail the city’s highly successful Red Cross partnership that provides and installs free 10-year sealed smoke detectors for any resident — putting GFD in the top five departments in northwest Illinois.

You’ll also learn:

If you’ve been meaning to check your smoke alarms, this 17-minute interview will get it done today.

Get your free smoke alarm + installation: ci.galesburg.il.us (Fire Department section)

[caption id="attachment_690150" align="aligncenter" width="800"]Galesburg Fire Chief Randy Hovind (left, smiling, wearing navy fire department jacket) and Captain Ben Caruana (right, wearing gray Galesburg Fire Department quarter-zip with name tag) pose in the WGIL studio in front of the Galesburg Sports WGIL 1400 AM & 93.7 FM logo. Galesburg Fire Chief Randy Hovind (left) and Captain Ben Caruana stopped by WGIL on Monday, Dec. 1, 2025, to talk life-saving smoke alarms and the free installation program – because working detectors really do save lives. (WGIL)[/caption]

 
lang="en-US"> Smoke Alarms Save Lives: Free Detectors & Holiday Fire Safety with Galesburg Fire Dept. | WGIL 93.7 FM - 1400 AM
Site icon WGIL 93.7 FM – 1400 AM

Smoke Alarms Save Lives: Free Detectors & Holiday Fire Safety with Galesburg Fire Dept.