Time to Change the Batteries in your Smoke Alarms

Ministry of Community Safety and Correctional Services Office of the Fire Marshal	Ministère de la Sécurité communautaire et des Services correctionnels Bureau du commissaire des incendies
Place Nouveau Building 7th Floor 5775 Yonge Street North York ON M2M 4J1 Telephone 416-325-3100 Facsimile: 416-325-3162	Édifice Place Nouveau 7^eétage 5775 rue Yonge North York ON M2M 4J1 Téléphone: 416-325-3100 Télécopieur: 416-325-3162	File Reference/Référence:

Toronto (March 1, 2007) – One year ago today, an amendment to the Fire Code came into effect requiring Ontario homes to have smoke alarms on every storey, as well as outside all sleeping areas. The Ontario Fire Marshal would like to remind everyone that it’s time to change the batteries in all those new smoke alarms.

“The batteries in smoke alarms need to be replaced once a year, or if the low-battery warning chirps,” said Patrick Burke, Fire Marshal for Ontario. “With the clocks changing on March 11, this is the perfect time to also change the batteries in all your smoke alarms.”

A recent review of provincial fire loss data indicates that 79% of homes that experienced a fire had a smoke alarm installed. However, these smoke alarms activated in less than half --47 per cent-- of these fires. One of the primary reasons that smoke alarms don’t work is because people remove the batteries because of frequent nuisance alarms caused by cooking activities or steam from a shower.

If nuisance alarms are a problem, never remove or disconnect the batteries. Tampering with, or removing the batteries from your smoke alarms is against the law. The Office of the Fire Marshal encourages anyone experiencing nuisance alarms to visit the website www.makeitstop.ca for solutions, or contact your local fire department for advice.

Gina Pointikas, Office of the Fire Marshal, 416-325-3155 or
Bev Gilbert, Office of the Fire Marshal, 416-325-3178