The theme for Fire Prevention Week 2003, running Oct. 5-12, is “When Fire Strikes: Get Out and Stay Out,” but you might not make it out to begin with if you don’t have a working smoke detector.
Orion Township Fire Department Assistant Chief Bob Smith said everyone needs to have a smoke detector on every floor of their home, and that if residents need one the fire department will supply them with one.
“We’re just trying to educate people (with Fire Prevention Week),” he said. “Once you detect that you have a problem, you should get out and don’t go back in.”
Smith said 80 percent of fire deaths are results of people going back into a burning home.
“Don’t worry about taking stuff with you…People are hesitant to leave their property or leave anything behind,” he said. “Just don’t go back in.”
Smith said you have the best chance of escaping a fire if you have a working smoke detector in your home.
“They’re a $10 item,” he said. “For $50 in a home, you can get five and they’ll protect your life and the lives of your family.
“You can call the fire department for one if you need to,” Smith added. “We’ll even come out and install it for you.”
Smoke detectors should be located on every floor of the home, and also in every bedroom. They should be checked weekly by making sure the green light is on, meaning the device (110 volt smoke detectors) is receiving power; and they should be tested monthly, by actually pushing the button to sound the alarm.
“You should change the battery twice a year and if your detector is 10 years old or older, get a new one,” Smith said. “A lot of people put off (installing smoke detectors)…They said they’ll get to it later. They just didn’t get around to putting it up yet.
“A lot of people will also put it in the wrong spot…like near the kitchen so it goes off when you’re cooking. Then people take it down because it becomes a nuisance,” he said.
Another no-no is removing batteries from your smoke detector to use them in something else, even if you intend to replace them.
“People forget to put them back,” said Smith “People also take them down while they are remodeling or painting.”
Even if you have a rental property, you should take responsibility for your own safety by making sure a working smoke detector is installed. The Orion Township Fire Department will install smoke detectors by request regardless if the home is a rental property or not.
Smith said the last three house fire calls he’s been on have involved cases where there was not a working smoke detector.
“This month we will probably tour two dozen schools,” he said. “The parents expect us to do the teaching, but they don’t want to put forth the effort to follow through at home.”
Smith said a lot of the children he meets have been to all of the fire department’s open houses and apparatus displays, like the one held last Sunday, year after year.
“But it’s not getting through,” he said of fire prevention. “I ask, ‘Do we know what it means when the smoke detector goes off?’ and they say stuff like “Yeah, it means mom burned supper again.’
“Parents need to reinforce this,” said Smith.
Orion’s Fire Department will hold open houses at Stations #1, #2 and #3 on Oct. 12, from 1-4 p.m., and requests can be made for smoke detectors and smoke detector batteries. The department will also have information about escape ladders, fire extinguishers and other equipment.