Pizza and a smoke detector? | Sampson Independent

Domino’s teams with

fire officials for safety

By Michael B. Hardison [email protected]

Pictured, from left, are Clinton Fire Chief Hagan Thornton, Domino’s owner Tamara Traub and firefighter/form Domino’s employee Clark Strickland. The three share conversation on plans for the delivery’s that day.

Michael B. Hardison | Sampson Independent

Domino’s teams with

fire officials for safety

Clark Strickland, left, and Jasmine Ford work out the details for the first delivery while Joshua Coombs checks that the fire-smoke detectors are ready.

Michael B. Hardison | Sampson Independent

Clark Strickland, Jasmine Ford and Joshua Coombs were all smiles on the day the event, pizza and detectors in hand.

Michael B. Hardison | Sampson Independent

This was the first home of Stephanie Garcia that crews entered that day and the family got a free pizza out of it.

Michael B. Hardison | Sampson Independent

Clark Strickland and Daniel Huffman check on a detector, it was all clear and operational.

Michael B. Hardison | Sampson Independent

Young Freedie Garcia got to sit on the fire truck and pose with Domino’s staff and Clinton fire crews after they left his house. Pictured with him, from left, are Daniel Huffman, Belki Rodriguez and Clark Strickland.

Michael B. Hardison | Sampson Independent

Fire crews went to work checking on the detectors and interacting with the Lopez family at their home.

Michael B. Hardison | Sampson Independent

JD Blackmore installs a new fire-smoke detector for the Lopez’s that wasn’t working

Michael B. Hardison | Sampson Independent

Elisa Lopez, center, and her children got to commemorate them getting new free detectors and pizza with this shot. Pictured with them is Domino’s employee Elidia Diaz and, right, Clinton Fire Department’s JD Blackmore.

Michael B. Hardison | Sampson Independent

In an effort to make the community a little safer, the local Domino’s partnered with Clinton Fire Department officials late last week to gift free pizzas and smoke detectors to residents around the city.

The collaboration was part of an inaugural initiative set in motion by one Domino’s owner Tamara Traub who got the idea from a previous event in which she was a participant.

“A couple years ago, when I was a general manager in the Jacksonville area, we did a really big program company-wide with our local fire department,” she explained last Friday. “They do a little festival every year in the Lowe’s parking lot there, and it was a lot of fun. Now that we (she and her husband Danie Traub) own our own Domino’s, and we have a fire chief we can get a hold of, I just thought it would be a great way to start that relationship. We want to start working, doing whatever we can in that direction to build up those relationships, and who wouldn’t like a chance to ride in a fire truck.”

With that goal in mind, members of the fire Department brought in a host of fire trucks to use as delivery vehicles for Domino’s this past Friday. As orders were place around Clinton, Domino’s drivers boarded the fire trucks with fire crews, pizzas in hand, and set out with a special surprise for residents.

As part of the joint venture, pizza was on the house, if residents were OK with a check to see if they had a smoke detector or would allow firefighters to install one. Not only was the pizza free for just allowing them to check, but the fire department fixed and installed new smoke detectors for any that were outdated or needed repair, also completely free.

“I think it’s good because it really does help us build those community relations,” stressed Hagan Thornton, Clinton fire chief. “We’re out, and people get to meet us and we get to not only meet but personally interact with different homeowners across the city.

“That’s important because you’d be amazed, as we’ve seen today, the amount of people who don’t have smoke detectors or that don’t realize they don’t work,” he added. “So, when we get a chance to make sure they are working, we hope it saves a life one day, if it ever comes down to that.”

The concern Thornton had was shared among the Domino’s staff, includng Elidia Diaz, who said thanks to this experience, she’ll definitely be ensuring her smoke detectors always work.

“When I came in and they were telling us that we get to ride in the fire trucks, I was very excited,” Diaz said. “I’ve rode in an ambulance, but not a fire truck before; they’re very boxy on the inside. It’s pretty cool that we’re doing this, because not a lot of homes know that they need their fire alarms updated. I don’t even think in my house I have a smoke alarm; I’m going to be honest. I asked the other day; don’t we have one? Then my mother was like, I don’t think we do and I was like, OK, cool. So, one thing for sure, when I get my new house, I’m definitely getting one because I don’t like fires, fires scare me.”

Domino’s staff members weren’t the only ones grateful. Resident Stephanie Garcia was the first to allow the fire department to check detectors inside her home.

“I’m thankful for the fire department coming to check our fire alarms; we’ve been through a big fire before so we really appreciate this,” Garcia attested. “And hey, who doesn’t like free pizza?”

Elisa Lopez was appreciative of the unexpected gift, too. She had three detectors in her home, but was unaware they didn’t work.

“I think it’s really good that they decided to do this because it keeps us very safe,” she said. “This means even more to us because I didn’t know they weren’t working so I’m really grateful for them doing this.”

Keeping the public safe is the whole reason for these detectors, and Thornton said that was why his department agreed to do the collaboration and, he reiterated, it was also a good way to interact with the people they serve.

“That’s the big part of doing this, making sure everybody stays safe, along with getting out in the public,” he said. “It gives us time, to0, instead of training all the time, to get out and meet people and let them know who we are. People are oftentimes scared of firemen and the law enforcemen. They think things like, ‘I don’t know who they are,’ so they don’t know how to act around us. The more you get out and interact with people, the better your community relations are.”

Thornton also noted it helps everyone out in the long run, preventing risk of life in the event of an emergency, “It’s all about risk reduction, that’s way we don’t have as many fires, which always helps us out.”

After an encouraging first time, Traub said as long it’s possible she hopes to make this a yearly tradition.

”I mean, everything that we do here is about enriching the community; we’re really big on trying to reach out to them in all the ways we can,” she said. “We help out with National Night Out every year, and any other community involvement we can find. We live here, too, so we want to be a part of the community and show that we care.”

“I would love to do this annually, if they would be willing to do it. If they have the time, we’ll keep this going,” she added.

Thornton was all in.

“I know this is something Domino’s does across the country so when they reached out to us about two months ago about doing, we were more than happy to do it,” Thornton said. “It’s never been done here, so when they asked would we be interested in doing it, we told them, of course and we were able to get it worked out. I think they want to do this annually, if so, we’ll be glad to do it and be out in the community.”

Reach Michael B. Hardison at 910-249-4231. Follow us on Twitter at @SamsponInd, like us on Facebook, and check out our Instagram at @thesampsonindependent.