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FEATURE
RED DEER ADVOCATE Thursday, Oct. 2, 2014 B3
FIRE PREVENTION
WEEK 201 4
SOUND THE ALARM to save lives
Look up! This year’s Fire Prevention Week, running from October 7 to 13, is all about those crucial circular devices on your ceiling. It’s plain and simple: smoke alarms save lives. According to the Office of the Fire Commissioner, most fire deaths in Alberta happen in homes, especially at night when people are asleep. They don’t die from flames but from inhaling the smoke and other toxic gases. The shrill warning blast of a working smoke detector can prevent this. It is recommended you check your smoke alarms once a month as batteries die or someone can take them out when cooking. The Alberta Fire Code requires all homes in the province to have working smoke alarms. Other smoke alarm messages include: Install smoke alarms in every bedroom, outside
each separate sleeping area and on every level of the home, including the basement. Interconnect all smoke alarms throughout the home. This way, when one sounds, they all do. Test alarms at least monthly by pushing the test button. Replace all smoke alarms when they are 10 years old or sooner. Make sure everyone in the home knows the sound of the smoke alarm and understands what to do when they hear it. Fire Prevention Week started in 1922 as a way to commemorate the tragic 1871 Great Chicago Fire that killed more than 250 people, left 100,000 homeless, destroyed more than 17,400 structures and burned more than 2,000 acres. For more information, visit www.firepreventionweek.org.
Shane Dussault, fire prevention officer, talks all things smoke alarm-related at station 1 in downtown Red Deer
Fire prevention in Red Deer all about education Fire safety in Red Deer goes beyond a one-week event. Crews work to spread awareness all year long, said Shane Dussault, fire prevention officer with the City of Red Deer’s Emergency Services. Since 2005, Red Deer Emergency Services have been running its Home Safety Program, a free service where personnel visit residences and offer a fire and injury home safety check. They have been to 30,114 homes in Red Deer — 3,441 in 2013 — since then and handed out or installed 6,576 smoke alarms and 2,024 batteries. The goal is to have less than one destructive fire per 1,000 people. The provincial average is 1.4 fires per
1,000. In 2013, there were 0.66 fires per 1,000 in Red Deer. New this year is the city’s After the Fire Program, which targets neighbourhoods that have recently witnessed a fire. This service also involves home safety inspections and free smoke alarm installations along with sharing safety tips and how to prevent more property damage tragedies. The program has ran once so far, in the Lancaster area after the improper disposal of a cigarette in a peat moss plant lead to a fire earlier this summer. The public are invited to kickoff fire prevention week on Saturday, October 4 at Fire Station No. 1 at 4941, 46th St. from 11 a.m. until 2 p.m. A burning room demonstration will also be taking place to show how much difference in damage a sprinkler can make.
Every day, brave men and women put their lives on the line to protect their community... we salute you! 6415 Golden West Avenue Red Deer, AB T4P 3X2 Tel: 403-347-7045 Toll Free: 1-800-494-4210
2013 RED DEER FIRE STATS: Total destructive residential fires – 27 Properties where smoke alarms went off – 48
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Properties with no smoke alarms or missing or dead batteries – 7 (48 people put at risk)