An alarm company in Scottsdale, Ariz., came to the rescue of ABC’s television program “Extreme Makeover: Home Edition.” In an episode that aired May 22, Safeguard Security and Communications provided a security system for a veterans center the show was building to honor Army Spc. Lori Piestewa, who dies in 2003 at the onset of the Iraq war.
“Extreme Makeover” specializes in giving deserving families a makeover of their home. In this case, the show built a home for the Piestewa family in Flagstaff, Ariz., as well as a veterans center in nearby Tuba City to honor the first female Native American to lose her life in combat. Piestewa died from injuries suffered in the same attack that made her good friend Jessica Lynch a prisoner of war.
Safeguard’s involvement came at the last minute. As the designers and workers hired by the show were nearing completion of the center in early April, producers realized the center lacked a needed security system. The producers called Safeguard, which sent technicians 200 miles to Tuba City within hours.
“We got the call at about 6 a.m. on a Tuesday morning and by 10:30 we were installing the security system,” says Safeguard CEO John Jennings. “It was an extreme response to an extreme situation, you might say.”
Safeguard installed a system that included designer keypads, door and window sensors and motion detectors for the Piestewa Native American Veterans Center. Along with Lynch, the installers were on hand as the quickly constructed center was dedicated before “Extreme Makeover’s” cameras.
“It’s an honor to be associated with something that pays tribute to those who paid the ultimate price for their country while having the opportunity to give something back to those who served,” Jennings says.
