WELLINGTON COUNTY – Fire departments across the country are challenging everyone in Wellington County to test their smoke and carbon monoxide alarms and “Get Loud!” as part of Fire Prevention Week.
Fire Prevention Week runs from October 3 to 9 and firefighters are urging everyone to “Get Loud!” and “Learn the Sounds of Fire Safety™”.
By law, every home in Ontario must have a working smoke alarm on every storey and outside all sleeping areas. However, too often fatal fires in Ontario occur in homes where there were no working smoke alarms.
Do you know what your smoke alarm is telling you with those beeps? During fire safety week everyone is challenged to “Get Loud!” and push the test button on smoke and carbon monoxide alarms every month to learn the sound alarms make.
Testing alarms produces a beep, the sound of alarms in an emergency. Replace the batteries if the alarms do not sound when the test button is pushed. If the alarms still don’t sound, replace the alarms.
Testing your alarms is the only way to ensure they are working and that you and your family can be alerted in the event of a fire.
“Knowing the different sounds your smoke and carbon monoxide alarms make can save you, your loved ones, and your home. Get Loud! by testing your alarms every month to learn the sound they make and to ensure the batteries work,” states a press release from the Office of the Ontario Fire Marshal.
“Take immediate action if your smoke or carbon monoxide alarms sound. If the alarms beep in an emergency get everyone out of the home. If your alarms chirp, replace the batteries or alarms immediately,” the release urges.
Mapleton Fire Chief Rick Richardson thinks most people generally understand the signals their fire safety alarms are sending, but it’s also important to ensure they are in good working order with regular testing and battery replacement.
Richardson said Mapleton Fire Rescue is also urging local residents to ensure they know their house number or fire location number and road name in case they need to call 911, “when you’re calling on a cell phone especially or else you’re in trouble.”
