Starting this week, the Baltimore Fire Department will install smoke alarms to city residents who call 311 and request an alarm. There will be no charge.

The Brew reported that the city received a $75,200 grant from the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) to purchase 10,000 smoke alarms as part of a fire awareness and prevention initiative. The city has budgeted $18,800 for city firefighters to install the alarms.

Residents who call 311 can expect the fire department to install the alarms in a timely manner, according to an announcement by Mayor Stephanie Rawlings-Blake.

One alarm per floor will be supplied, although exceptions will be made based on the number of residents and other considerations.

The new alarms will use tamper-resistant lithium batteries with an expected life of 10 years. Rawlings-Blake hailed the program, saying, “We feel that it is our duty in these tough economic times to leverage funding to make it easier for residents to get the safety and protection they need.”