The Dryden Fire Department is a bit alarmed by the lack of working smoke and carbon monoxide alarms found during their first home inspections.
34 inspections were completed on September 2nd, where 22 smoke alarms were installed, 12 carbon monoxide alarms, 10 combination alarms and 15 batteries were replaced.
Deputy Fire Chief with the City of Dryden, Kent Readman says these numbers are high and not where they’d like to be.
“In the future I think people need to be aware they need to have alarms. Those numbers are higher than we expected, it isn’t great. There’s a lot of people that are not in compliance with the laws and regulations of the Ontario Fire Code. On the bright side, we got a lot of alarms installed. ”
Readman notes they often find expired alarms, stressing alarms save lives.
“With today’s construction and materials that are in homes, they burn hotter and faster than ever before. The chance of escaping is pretty limited in a fire situation, especially in the middle of the night. So having those working smoke alarms is extremely important for people’s safety.”
Some of the alarms that were replaced in people’s homes on September 2nd. Photo from DFS.
Smoke alarms are required on every floor and outside of every sleeping area.
As for carbon monoxide alarms, they are required outside of sleeping areas in any building that has fueled fire appliances.
Readman says the main goal of these inspections is to keep everyone safe and in compliance.
“We encourage people to fix things if they have outdated smoke alarms or dead batteries or missing alarms to go out and get those ahead of time, before our inspection. If they don’t we’re going to be out again and check everything to make sure everything’s safe.”
Dryden Fire Service will supply smoke alarms and batteries while supplies lasts during their next inspections on September 30th starting at 6pm.
If you would like your home checked, contact the Dryden Fire Department.
