The Jackson Fire Department Union is aiming to extinguish fire deaths in Mississippi's capital city one free smoke detector at a time.

The JFD Union is holding its first ever campaign cookout to raise money to purchase smoke detectors Friday at Smith Park, in an effort to equip each Jackson household with the lifesaving device.

According to the Mississippi Insurance Commissioners' office, Mississippi currently leads the nation in fire deaths.

Five hundred free smoke detectors were on hand at the start of the event, but that number dwindled by 100 before noon.

“A lot of fires that we do have [in Jackson] are because of non-working smoke detectors,” said A.J. Bryant, president of the Jackson Firefighters Union.

Bryant said he hopes Friday's event will put JFD several steps closer to putting a smoke detector in every Jackson home.

“We see it everyday,” Bryant said after recalling a Christmas Eve fire on Winter Street several years ago that left two young children dead after a space heater set the house on fire. Bryant said there was no working smoke detector in the home.

The JFD usually receives close to $2000 in grant money to purchase smoke detectors for the community, but the Union is stepping with the cookout fundraiser to double those efforts.

Jackson resident and grandmother Emma Sims dropped by Smith Park Friday to pick up a free smoke detector for her daughter who's a single mother of two. She is hoping to prevent any fire related tragedies for her daughter and grandchildren's sake.

“I think it's important to have a plan and not take it for granted,” Sims said.

Jackson residents who cannot make it to Friday's event, which stops at 3 PM, can call (601) 960-1399. JFD will come to your residence to install a free smoke detector.