Getting pizza delivery is often a treat in itself, but when it comes with a fire truck chaser and firefighters with prizes and gifts, it's even sweeter.
During Fire Prevention week, this Sunday through Saturday, firefighters with the Dixon (Ill.) Fire Department are following pizza delivery drivers as they make their pie deliveries in the city of 16,000 with the intent of equipping residents with smoke detectors and batteries, and rewarding those who already have them installed with pizza gift certificates.
It's the third year the department has sponsored the promotion and each year, the firefighters visit nearly 50 homes.
"It's been very well received," said Dixon Capt. Mike Wilcox. "We've tried a number of other programs but this one works the best."
In cooperation with several local pizzerias with delivery service, the Dixon Fire Department visits the homes of customers, pulling up behind the drivers with the shiny red, front-line 2007 Alexis/Spartan pumper and at least two firefighters on board.
Once the delivery has been made and the driver paid, the firefighters approach the residents, introduce themselves and talk about smoke detectors.
Homes with working smoke detectors on all levels, including the basement, receive a $10 gift certificate from the pizza shop toward the next purchase.
"Most people are very surprised to see us pull up in front of their house with a fire truck, but they're usually very receptive to what we are doing," said Dixon Capt. Mark Callison. "Some don't want anything to do with us, but, by far most of them are very pleased we're doing it."
Wilcox said many times the residents are confident their smoke detectors are working, only to find the batteries are dead, or in some cases, missing completely.
"We find that our statistics are running just about the same with national averages," he said. "Ninety to 94 percent of the homes we visit have smoke detectors, but only about 50 percent have them on all levels, including the basement."
Dixon firefighters have four gift certificates to give out each night of the promotion and sometimes they struggle to give them out, because orders are slow, or they've been forced to respond to a call during the promotion. But, they're more than happy to give them out when the residents meet the requirements.
And, they're just as happy to give out a free smoke detector or two to homes that don't have any, Callison said.
On board the apparatus are stickers and badges for kids and a cache of 9-volt batteries, donated by Rayovac which has a large distribution center in the suburban community about 100 miles west of Chicago.
The idea for the promotion was sparked by a story in a trade magazine three years ago and Wilcox, a 24-year member of the department, proposed it to the department. It was very well received he said, adding the department's firefighters pony up money from their own benevolent funds to help pay for the detectors and the gift certificates. Even the chief has donated money to it as well, he said.
"The vendors have been very good," Callison said. "Many of them have said they didn't want any money from us, they were just going to cover the gift certificates themselves."
One of the things that made the campaign a success was advertising before the event. Two local radio stations, newspaper advertising and a bank with a rolling marquee helped publicize the promotion.
Still, even with the all the promotion, people are surprised to see the fire truck pull up in front of the house.
"Many of them think there's something wrong," Wilcox said. "Then, we get all the neighbors coming out asking what's going on." That's an added benefit too, giving the department added exposure, Wilcox said.
Callison said if the home has kids, they're invited to come out and get in the fire truck while the firefighters give them stickers, coloring hand outs and other trinkets.
Departments that want to emulate Dixon's model should jump right in and do it, Callison said.
"We've been thinking that it doesn't have to be just pizza," he said, noting the community has seven pizza shops with delivery service. "We've got a chicken shop in town that does delivery too and they do a lot for us."
Once the vendors were on board, Callison said, they easily got permission to use the apparatus for the event, as long as it was in service and ready to respond.
"We're in contact with the drivers by cell phone and we can just catch up with them if we have a call,"Callison said. "Otherwise, we're stationed right at the pizza shop and roll with the drivers."
Dixon is a combination department with 16 full-time members running three shifts of five people and six volunteers. It responds to a total of 1,600 runs annually with about 1,200 of those as medical calls as the department runs its own ambulance service.
"Everybody enjoys it," Callison said of the pizza promo. "We hear from people even a year after the event. It's worked really well for us."
