Help Save Lives in Our Community – Remind Your Family, Friends and Neighbors to Adopt a Simple Lifesaving Change.

As the time change approaches on Sunday March 14th, the Arcola Fire Department wants to remind residents to make another change that could save their lives – changing the batteries in their smoke alarms and carbon monoxide detectors. 

Communities nationwide witness tragic home fire deaths each year.  An average of two children per day die in home fires and 80 percent of those occur in homes without working smoke alarms.  Non-working smoke alarms rob residents of the protective benefits home fire safety devices were designed to provide.  The most commonly cited cause of non-working smoke alarms: worn or missing batteries. 

Changing smoke alarm batteries at least once a year is one of the simplest, most effective ways to reduce these tragic deaths and injuries.  In fact, working smoke alarms nearly cut in half the risk of dying in a home fire.  Additionally, the International Association of Fire Chiefs recommends replacing your smoke alarms every ten years. 

The peak time for home fire fatalities is between 10 p.m. and 6 a.m. when most families are sleeping. Smoke alarm maintenance is a simple, effective way to reduce home fire deaths.  Children and senior citizens are most at risk, and a working smoke alarm can give them the extra seconds they need to get out safely.”

Tragically, fire can kill selectively.  Those most at risk include: 

• Children – About 600 children under the age of 20 die each year in home fires.  Children under age 5 are at twice the risk of dying in a home fire.  Eighty percent of fatal home fire victims who were children were killed in homes without working smoke alarms.
• Seniors – Adults over age 75 are three times more likely to die in home fires than the rest of the population; those over 85 are 4.5 times more likely to die in a home fire.  Many seniors are unable to escape quickly.
• Low-income Households – Many low-income families are unable to afford batteries for their smoke alarms.  These same households often rely on poorly installed, maintained or misused portable or area heating equipment – a main cause of fatal home fires.

USFA has a fire safety campaign called Install. Inspect. Protect. which provides information about home smoke alarms and fire sprinklers. Please visit the campaign Web site at www.usfa.dhs.gov/campaigns/smokealarms/

 
For more information about fire safety, call APVVFD at 703-327-2222  or call the International Association of Fire Chiefs at 703-273-0911 or e-mail corporaterelations@iafc.org.