October 3rd to 9th is Fire Prevention Week.
100 Mile Fire Rescue Chief Roger Hollander explains what this year’s theme “Learn the Sounds of Fire Safety” is all about.
“What that is referring to is the difference of sound your smoke alarm makes versus your carbon monoxide alarm. Two very important alarms, two very different alarms. The smoke alarm has 3 distinctive beeps followed by a pause and the carbon monoxide alarm has 4 quick distinctive beeps followed by a pause in between.”
When it comes to distinguishing an alarm sound from a sound it would make notifying you that the battery is starting to die, Hollander said anytime there’s a low battery on these devices it’s more of a chirp followed by a pause followed by another chirp.
Hollander noted that everyone should have smoke alarms on multiple levels of their home including the bedroom and carbon monoxide alarms on each level as well.
Having a fire escape plan is something else you should add to your home fire safety checklist and practice it with your family.
“There’s no point having a plan if you don’t practice it,” Hollander said.
Fire Prevention Week originated after a large-scale fire in Chicago in the 1800s where hundreds of people lost their lives and over a hundred thousand residents were homeless and ever since then it’s been the longest public safety campaign in history.