Door-to-door to save lives
If you hear a knock on the door Saturday, there’s a chance it might be a firefighter from the Alarm for Life program.
If you hear a knock on the door on Saturday in December, there’s a good chance it might be a firefighter from the Alarm for Life program.
“This is not new for us,” says Deputy Chief Frank Biancucci. “We’ve been out since late July to late October, going to door in each fire district and implementing our Alarmed for Life program.”
In fact, firefighters have already visited 4,000 homes this year and hope to visit another 500 this month.
“We care about the safety of our residents and want to help them be safe over the holidays,” Biancucci said.
“We know smoke alarms, carbon monoxide alarms and home escape plans save lives and we are bringing this message right to our residents.”
The holidays see a heightened use of candles, and people are entertaining more so there may be smoking, and more lights and extension cords as well as woodburning fires in use.
Biancucci said a large part of the program is education, getting people to know about fire safety and promoting good safety behaviours.
“Cooking, as an example, if there’s a cooking fire in a pot, use the lid to extinguish the fire. And don’t walk away when you’re cooking,” he said.
“If you do have to walk away whether it’s answering a phone or the door, take something with you that reminds you that you’re still cooking.”
He warned people to never leave candles unattended and ensure that they are in sturdy, fire-proof holders and away from children, pets or anything that could catch fire.
When they visit homes, the firefighters will offer a free safety check of smoke and carbon monoxide alarms.
At one house visit in a north-end cul-de-sac, firefighters tested an alarm that had batteries replaced only two months ago to find the unit not working.
“Our goal is to make sure people are thinking about fire safety 365 days a year,” said Biancucci. “If people could check their smoke alarms every month that would be fantastic.”
Home safety checks are voluntary, and if firefighters discover a property is missing working smoke alarms or carbon monoxide alarm during the Alarmed for Life home visit they will offer to replace the batteries or install new alarms for a minimal fee to cover the costs of the devices.