Smoke alarms: up, down, all around

  • Published
  • 423rd Civil Engineer Squadron
RAF ALCONBURY, United Kingdom --  In an effort to better educate communities throughout the U.S. about smoke alarm recommendations, the nonprofit National Fire Protection Association is promoting "Smoke Alarms: A Sound You Can Live With!" as the theme for this year's Fire Prevention Week campaign, October 3-9, which the 423rd is supporting locally. NFPA has been the official sponsor of Fire Prevention Week for 88 years.

Although all married family housing units are mandated to have smoke detectors fitted throughout it is still vitally important occupants test them (weekly is recommended in the UK), ensure they do not become too dusty and most importantly report any problems to the housing office to make certain they are always fully functional.

"In the UK for single family dwellings smoke detectors are not legally required purely because a property is rented, although the vast majority of landlords do have detectors fitted the Housing office can only recommend they be present" says Mark Cutler, Assistant Chief of Fire Prevention for the Base Fire Department. "We want personnel living off base to understand that ideally working smoke alarms are needed in every home, on every level (including the basement), NFPA recommendations go so far to say outside each sleeping area and inside each bedroom. And, if a smoke alarm is 10 years old or older, it needs to be replaced.

UK Local Authority Fire & Rescue Services all offer home fire safety visits, Cambridgeshire FRS say "Firefighters or specially trained community safety officers will visit your home to help you identify and assess the risks of fire and advise you on the best practices to keep your home and family safe. We will also fit the appropriate number and correct type of smoke alarms free of charge if these are required and secure them in the correct places". Follow this link for more information and to book a visit: Cambridgeshire Fire and Rescue Service: FREE Home Fire Safety Checks if you live outside of Cambridgeshire you can locate your local authority FRS via this website: Skills For Justice - Find your local Fire and Rescue Service

According to Mark Cutler, smoke alarms can mean the difference between life and death in a fire. NFPA statistics show that working smoke alarms cut the chance of dying in a fire nearly in half. But they must be working properly to do so. The association's data shows that many homes have smoke alarms that aren't working or maintained properly, usually because of missing, disconnected or dead batteries. Roughly two-thirds of all home fire deaths result from fires in homes with no smoke alarms or no working smoke alarms. The Base Fire Department will be hosting activities locally, displays at these locations: BX, Commissary, Village & NYPD, also children from our DoDDS schools will be visiting during Fire Prevention Week to promote "Smoke Alarms: A Sound You Can Live With!", to help personnel and their families understand NFPA's smoke alarm recommendations. Through these educational, family-oriented activities, staff and families can learn more about the power of smoke alarms; newer options for installing and maintaining them properly, and ultimately, how to better protect their loved ones from fire.

NFPA and the Base Fire Department agree that interconnected smoke alarms offer the best protection and are mandated in military housing; when one sounds, they all do. This is particularly important in larger or multi-story homes, where the sound from distant smoke alarms may be reduced to the point that it may not be loud enough to provide proper warning, especially for sleeping individuals. Families resident on base have such hard-wired interlinked systems which are tested routinely by Base Housing staff, but do not become complacent, report any problems immediately to the housing office or Fire Dept out of hours and follow the home maintenance guidelines as mentioned in the second paragraph.

"Most people have a sense of complacency about smoke alarms because they already have one in their homes. Fire Prevention Week provides an excellent opportunity to re-educate people about smoke alarms, new technologies and expanded options for installation and maintenance," says Judy Comoletti, division manager for NFPA public education. "Ultimately, we want this year's campaign to serve as a call to action for households nationwide to inspect their homes to ensure that their families have the full smoke alarm protection that's recommended."

The Base Fire Department offers the following tips for making sure smoke alarms are maintained and working properly for personnel living off base:

· Test smoke alarms weekly using the test button, and make sure everyone in your home knows their sound.
· If an alarm "chirps," warning the battery is low, replace the battery right away.
· Replace all smoke alarms, including alarms that use 10-year batteries and hard-wired alarms, when they're 10 years old (or sooner) if they do not respond properly when tested.
· Never remove or disable a smoke alarm.

To find out more about Fire Prevention Week programs and activities on base, please contact the base Fire Department at 268 3260/3114/3119 To learn more about "Smoke Alarms: A Sound You Can Live With!," visit NFPA's Web site at www.firepreventionweek.org for UK orientated information visit Fire safety in the home : Directgov - Home and community