Free smoke alarms for Fire Prevention Week

Tomorrow marks the start of Fire Prevention Week.

So far this year, there have been 185 structure fires in Hamilton, and many of the buildings did not have working smoke alarms.

Today, volunteers accompanied by Hamilton firefighters went door-to-door offering residents in one neighbourhood free installations and replacements.

It’s not an uncommon sight in Hamilton’s Keith neighbourhood, fires that may have been preventable.

“In Hamilton, probably about 55% of homes we find don’t have working smoke alarms,” says John Verbeek, Assistant Chief Fire Prevention Officer.

So today, the the Hamilton fire department together with volunteers with the Keith Neighbourhood Installation Team, also known as “KNIT”, and some high school students, went house to house installing alarms for residents free of charge.

In Ontario it is law to have working fire alarms.

“Your smoke alarms have to be installed on every floor level of your home and outside of all the sleeping areas of your home. It is extremely important in your home because people don’t realize how quickly a fire can spread. A fire can grow from a small fire to something that can engulf a room within a couple of minutes,” says Verbeek.

For those who already have a smoke alarm installed, maintenance is also very important. It’s advised that you test your smoke alarms once a month, replace the batteries at least once a year, and replace the smoke alarm itself every ten years.

It’s also important that everyone in your home knows exactly what to do when the smoke alarm goes off.

For all the volunteers and firefighters out in the neighbourhood today, it was about one thing: simply improving safety.