THUNDER BAY – Thunder Bay Fire Rescue is reminding students a working smoke alarm is not just the law, but it can also save your life.
To kick-off National Fire Prevention Week, public education officer Anthony Stokaluk discussed the importance of working smoke alarms and home fire safety with students at Kingsway Public Park School on Tuesday.
“For the last three years the theme has focused on the smoke alarms,” Stokaluk said.
“This year we are focusing on the fact that they do expire, and they need to be replaced every ten years.”
It’s the law to have working smoke alarms on every level of your home and outside all sleeping areas.
It is also the law to have carbon monoxide alarms outside all sleeping areas if the home has a fireplace, an attached garage, or a fuel fired appliance.
Stokaluk said smoke alarms are important all year round, but with heating season just around the corner, there is an increased risk of house fire occurrences.
“With Thanksgiving passing and Christmas coming up a lot of cooking is happening,” he said.
“Cooking is the number one cause of house fires, so it’s important to protect yourself, and a working smoke alarm is the only protection you are going to have.”
It’s important to never leave the stove unattended and keep the oven clear from clutter. According to Stokaluk, a lot of fires have been started by people leaving dish towels or boxes on top of the stove.
Thunder Bay Fire Rescue provides fire safety programs for the youth throughout the year.
“We are trying to change the way a generation of children think about fire safety by making it part of their education,” Stokaluk said.
“Children are actually the ambassadors, so by promoting the message within the schools children go home and promote our messages to the parents, and they help us spread the word.”
Nine-year-old Michael McKinnon said he understands the importance of making sure smoke alarms are working, because if the alarms don’t work, they won't save your life.
“You have to check your smoke alarms every ten years or get a new one,” McKinnon said.
“If you can’t get a new one right away call the fire department, and they will tell you what you need.”
McKinnon was one of the many grade 4 students at Kingsway educating the rest of his peers about fire safety during Fire Prevention Week.
McKinnon said people should not wait to check the date on their smoke alarms, and it's not just smoke alarms that should be checked.
“Alarms are the law,” McKinnon said. “I didn’t know that, and it’s important to have a (carbon monoxide) alarm, because if there was carbon monoxide you can’t see or smell it, so you would fall asleep and never wake up.”
