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PAGE 6, WEDNESDAY, JANUARY 9, 1980, WHITBY FREE PRESS Crouch rejeets seheme to seil smoke detectors Last week a bylaw came into force requiring that al rented dwellings have smoke detectors but a proposai to sell them door- to-door has been turned down by the Whitby Fire Department. Ray Abbott, an officer with the Oshawa Fire Department, says that his plan, already in operation since June in Oshawa, was rejected by Whitby Fire Chief Ed Crouch when he proposed to expand it into Whîtby. "I thought he would have been more than pieased to have our heip, " Abbott says. "Crouch was instrumental in getting the byiaw passed. " The new Whitby byiaw states that every dweiling, not occupied by the owner, must have a smoke detector instailed. Abbott says that his operation is designed to give people easier access to tye devices and provide expert guidance in their installation and maintenance. He and his brother Geraid, aiso a firefighter, purchased the detectors from a local supplier and then seli them for about the same price as local retail outiets, he said. The markup, accordirig to Abbott is only enough to cover the driving expenses of the owner adding that there is no pro it in the tran- saction. Abbott says that they have instaiied about 500 detectors in Oshawa to date noting that "ultimately, there are about 30,000 homes to go in- to. " More than 60 per cent of Oshawa homes are not equipped with the devices adding that "it is probably the same in Whitby," he said. In apartment buildings, 100 per cent might be a dloser estimate he said. Whitby Fire Chief Ed Crouch said that his objec- tion to the scheme was based on the effeets of similiar programs in other municipalities. ,6"There have been municipalities that have adopted it and got into trouble," Crouch said. "I think in the end, after they assessed what they had been doing, they were glad to get out of it. "If Oshawa supports it, that's fine, but my advice to himn was not to get involved in Whitbv." He sai d that the door-to- door selling technique wouid resemble scare tactics, for- cing people to buy the detec- tors because of the new byiaw. "I just don't believe it is fair to the businessman," Crouch said. "We have many businessmen and merchants in town who sell Infation FîSpecials