When most people picture firefighters saving lives, images of brave men rushing into burning buildings come to mind.
Now the Flin Flon Fire Department is hoping to preserve residents’ safety in a less dramatic, but equally crucial, way.
Throughout October, firefighters will provide 100 free smoke detectors to residents who need them, focusing on low-income people and senior citizens.
Fire Chief Chad Cooper called smoke detectors a “very inexpensive” way of cutting the risk of fire-related deaths in half.
“Most of the fires occur at nighttime while you’re sleeping, and usually the smoke gets you before the fire does,” he said.
Firefighters will be going door-to-door in lower-income areas as well as at multi-family residences and apartment blocks. Such residences tend to have fewer smoke alarms than they should.
Low-income residents and senior citizens are also invited to call Cooper at 204-681-7535 to arrange for a smoke detector and, if necessary, free installation.
Cooper said seniors can sometimes have difficulty installing smoke detectors themselves.
“We had a fire alarm call a month-and-a-half ago and the homeowner was 92 years old and his smoke detector went off because it was faulty, but he wasn’t sure if it was an actual fire or not,” he said. “We responded, investigated and found it to be faulty, but he had no way of changing it.”
In that case, Cooper purchased two smoke detectors and installed them for the man.
The Office of the Fire Commissioner has provided the Flin Flon Fire Department with 100 smoke detectors through the Smoke Alarms for Every Family program.
In addition to that program, Cooper said firefighters are available to check existing smoke detectors and help individuals and families plan fire-escape routes.
Cooper said it’s recommended that homes have at least one smoke detector per floor, and at least one detector outside of sleeping quarters.
Smoke detectors should be tested twice a year, he said: once in the spring and again in the fall.
Some smoke detectors, including the ones being given out by Cooper’s department, last 10 years and never require a change of batteries. The alarms start beeping when it’s time for a new one.
Cooper recommends homes with a gas furnace or a wood stove also install CO2 alarms.
“They call it the silent killer,” he said, referring to CO2.
