It doesn't have to be December for a gift-giving attitude to prevail, as shown by a project of Butler County United Labor Council, the Building and Construction Trades and United Way of Butler County.

Under a project named "Christmas in May," trade union volunteers last weekend installed free smoke and carbon monoxide detectors in the homes of elderly and low-income residents in the county. Such devices are an important safety feature in all homes, but oftentimes elderly and low-income people, for various reasons including health limitations and more pressing expenses, cannot buy them.

The "Christmas in May" project was a life-saving gesture by those who volunteered their time for the project, and those volunteers and the sponoring groups merit praise.

Whether these particular detectors actually save a life isn't the important consideration at this point. What is important that the detectors are in place in the event they are needed.

People throughout the county should ensure that their residences have such detectors and that they are working properly. That should involve setting up a regular detector-testing schedule and a regular time frame for replacing batteries.

It doesn't take long to carry out such important procedures. Unfortunately, news reports dealing with fatal fires too often reveal that a death might have been averted if a detector had been in place or had fresh batteries.

Last weekend's project should be repeated in the future by these or other groups.