Firefighters checking, installing smoke detectors

“In a fire, seconds count”.

According to the City of Kelowna’s website, an average of eight Canadians die each week from fire, but having working smoke alarms cuts that risk in half. One of the most important things a homeowner or tenant can do to help increase the chances of surviving a home fire is making sure the home is adequately protected with working smoke alarms. Further NFPA research demonstrates that two thirds of all fire deaths occur in homes without smoke alarms or working smoke alarms.

The theme promotes smoke alarms in every bedroom, a practice that is now law for all homes built after 2015. An outside meeting place should be identified so that everyone in the house can meet and confirm that everyone made it out.

Smoke alarms should be installed on every level of your home, including the basement. He also said they should be tested every month and thrown out after ten years.

They’ll be set up in the parking lot of the Home Depot at King and Northfield educating people on the importance of Smoke Alarms from 10 am – 3pm. If you hear the alarm sound off, you’re good to go.

Alarms in a home can sometimes feel like a burden from low-battery chirps to accidental soundings, but in the case of a true emergency, they can save lives. For easy installation, wireless interconnected smoke alarms are now available.

But firefighters say not all smoke alarm systems are up-to-date in the area near Augustana University and the University of Sioux Falls. “Smoke alarms can make the difference between life and death in a fire by alerting people in enough time to escape safely”, Murray says.

Check with your local fire department or on the Department of Fire Services’ Fire Prevention Week webpage for more information (www.mass.gov/dfs then click on Fire Prevention Week).

The event is part of a partnership between the fire department and the American Red Cross and the National Fire Protection Association for fire prevention week.