To the Editor:

On Monday morning, July 22, Chip and I were suddenly woken up at 5 a.m. as our home alarm started screaming. It took us old folks five minutes to gather our thoughts, find our glasses, and figure out how to shut it off. Due to a service problem. We were unable to connect with the monitor and send out an “all clear.”

Almost immediately, a Marion Police officer appeared at our door to help. He couldn’t have been nicer and as we looked for the problem, he told us the fire department was on the way.

Within 20 minutes of when the alarm initially sounded, two fully uniformed fireman appeared with one emergency truck (the officer had informed them that there was no fire) and came into the house to check to see if there were any other problems (primarily carbon monoxide). They were totally careful as they inspected our home, and again found nothing out of order.

Later that day, the alarm company identified the source as a smoke detector in a second floor bedroom that probably had been set off due to the heat and humidity.

We want to thank the Marion Police and Fire Departments for their incredibly rapid response to our problem, their comforting demeanor upon arrival, and their thorough inspection of our home before giving us the “all OK.”

We have lived in Marion for over 70 years and the last time we had a fire department visit was a Christmas Eve in the 1950s when we had a chimney fire and a visit from Bunk Jenney, Billy MacDougall, Nate Nye, and a couple more then MFD members. That also ended well.

Thank you very much Marion Police Department, and Fire Department for a long history of keeping us all safe.

Sincerely,

Bill and Chip Notman
414 Point Road