Having a working smoke alarm in each bedroom of a home will help save lives in the place where most fire deaths occur.
“Half of home fire deaths happen between 11 p.m. and 7 a.m. when most people are asleep,” Prince Edward Island Fire Marshal Dave Rossiter said. “During Fire Prevention Week October 4 to 10, Islanders should ensure that they have smoke alarms in each bedroom and level of their home and that they are operating, which reduces the chance of dying in a fire by half.”
The theme of Fire Prevention Week 2015 is “Hear the Beep Where You Sleep – Every Bedroom Needs a Working Smoke Alarm.” Rossiter said that message is increasingly important since more people are using and charging their portable electronic devices in the bedroom, and those devices can overheat and start a fire especially if left near bed linens.
Besides installing smoke alarms in bedrooms, outside each sleeping area and on every level of the home (including the basement), the Fire Marshall’s Office also has the following tips:
• in new construction, interconnect all smoke alarms throughout the house so that if one sounds, they all do;
• test alarms at least monthly by pushing the test button;
• replace alarms when they are 10 years old or sooner if they don’t respond to testing; and
• make sure everyone in the home knows the sound of the smoke alarm and understands what to do when they hear it.
Islander John-Anthony Langdale knows the value of an operational smoke alarm. He and his two young sons were watching a movie in bed in 2012 after his wife had gone out for the evening when the three awoke to the piercing sound of their smoke alarm.
“We were very fortunate to get out when we did,” said Langdale in a video available at www.youtube.com/watch?v=gU4TVCOY-Jc. “If not for working smoke alarms that night, my boys and I would not be here today.”
For more information on fire prevention contact your local fire department, e-mail publicsafety@gov.pe.ca, or contact the provincial Fire Marshal’s Office at 902-368-4869, or visit www.firepreventionweek.org. Follow the Office of Public Safety on Facebook and Twitter @peipublicsafety.