It's Fire Prevention Week and this year's campaign aims to educate everyone about simple, but important, actions Cochrane residents can take to make sure their smoke alarms are working and ready to keep people safe.
This year's theme is, "Smoke alarms: Make them work for you!”.
The National Fire Protection Association (NFPA) reports that working smoke alarms reduce the risk of dying in a home fire by more than 50 per cent. Despite this, nearly 60 per cent of home fire deaths happen in homes without working smoke alarms or no alarms at all.
"Smoke alarms are the first line of defense in a home fire, but they must be functional to protect people," says Cochrane Fire Chief Shawn Polley. "This year's Fire Prevention Week campaign educates the public on simple yet essential steps to ensure their homes have smoke alarms in the right places and that they are working properly."
He recommends residents get into the habit of testing their alarms on a regular basis.
"Some of the best things to do is to just test your alarm monthly. Pick a date, maybe it's the first Sunday, maybe it's a special event, maybe it's one of our Statutory holidays but actually take the time to press the test button on the smoke alarm once a month."
Polley adds it's important to change the batteries in smoke alarms annually and to replace all smoke alarms every 10 years.
Cochrane Fire Services is offering bookable home fire safety and smoke alarm visits and a colouring contest as part of Fire Prevention Week, says Polley.
"We'll have a fire crew, either a fire prevention team come out, or actually the fire operations crew. And that isn't just for this week, if this week doesn't work for you, we're also booking this year-round."
You can download the colouring page HERE.
One local family will get the opportunity to enjoy a personalized tour of Station 151 at the firehall.
Fire Prevention Week runs from October 6-12.