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TORONTO, Ontario, April 1, 2003 --
“When you change your clocks to daylight savings time on Sunday, April 6,
why not change the batteries in your smoke alarms too?” suggests Fire
Marshal Bernard Moyle.
“If you didn’t change your batteries in the fall, then change them this
weekend,” said the Fire Marshal. “To ensure that your smoke alarms will work
when you need them, change the batteries at least once a year and whenever
the low battery warning ‘chirps’. If your smoke alarms are more than 10
years old, replace them with new ones.”
With 94 fatalities in 2002, the number of fire deaths in Ontario is
declining. One significant factor contributing to the decline is that more
homes are equipped with smoke alarms. But, cautions the Fire Marshal, only a
working smoke alarm can save your life.
“All too often, when investigators examine the scene of a fatal fire, they
discover that the smoke alarms didn’t operate due to dead or missing
batteries,” said Moyle. “Everyone needs to know what to do and where to go
when a smoke alarm sounds: Develop and practise a home escape plan. But the
most important thing you can do is to make sure a fire doesn’t happen in the
first place.”
It is the law in Ontario to have working smoke alarms. The fire service
recommends at least one on every level of the home and outside all sleeping
areas.
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Newspaper public service announcements and suggested radio
scripts can be downloaded from the OFM web site at
http://www.firesafetycouncil.com/english/pubsafet/psaart.htm.
For fire statistics and further information contact:
Rodney Porter, Office of the Fire Marshal, 416-325-3120
Kelly Collard, Office of the Fire Marshal 416-325-3138.
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