Fire Prevention Week October 3rd-9th

Since 1922, the NFPA has sponsored the public observance of Fire Prevention Week. In 1925, President Calvin Coolidge proclaimed Fire Prevention Week a national observance, making it the longest-running public health observance in our country. During Fire Prevention Week, children, adults, and teachers learn how to stay safe in case of a fire. Firefighters provide lifesaving public education in an effort to drastically decrease casualties caused by fires.
 
Fire Prevention Week is observed each year during the week of October 9th in commemoration of the Great Chicago Fire, which began on October 8, 1871, and caused devastating damage. This horrific conflagration killed more than 250 people, left 100,000 homeless, destroyed more than 17,400 structures, and burned more than 2,000 acres of land.
 
This year the Prescott Fire Department would like to remind you to check your smoke and CO detectors for proper operation. Detectors should be tested every month and the batteries should be replaced in your detectors at least every year. When replacing those batteries yearly, also take the time to vacuum or blow out the detectors at that time. Dust and bugs can collect in the detectors causing an alarm to sound.
 
If your alarm is sounding, what is it telling you?

SMOKE ALARMS

• A continued set of three loud beeps—beep, beep, beep—means smoke or fire. Get out, call 9-1-1, and stay out.
• A single “chirp” every 30 or 60 seconds means the battery is low and must be changed.
• All smoke alarms must be replaced after 10 years.
• Chirping that continues after the battery has been replaced means the alarm is at the end of its life and the unit must be replaced.

 
CARBON MONOXIDE (CO) ALARMS

• A continuous set of four loud beeps—beep, beep, beep, beep—means carbon monoxide is present in your home. Go outside, call 9-1-1 and stay out.
• A single chirp every 30 or 60 seconds means the battery is low and must be replaced.
• CO alarms also have “end of life” sounds that vary by manufacturer. This means it’s time to get a new CO alarm.
• Chirping that continues after the battery has been replaced means the alarm is at the end of its life and the unit must be replaced

 
Smoke alarms do save lives. NFPA statistics show that almost three of every five home fire deaths resulted from fires in homes with no smoke alarms (41%) or no working smoke alarms (16%). The death rate per 1,000 reported home fires was more than twice as high in homes that did not have any working smoke alarms compared to the rate in homes with working smoke alarms (13.0 deaths vs. 5.8 deaths per 1,000 fires). In fires in which the smoke alarms were present but did not operate, two of every five (41%) of the smoke alarms had missing or disconnected batteries. Dead batteries caused one-quarter (26%) of the smoke alarm failures.