Edmonton Fire encouraging residents to check smoke alarms for Fire Prevention Week

Fire prevention week in Edmonton Assistant Fire Marshal for Edmonton Fire Rescue Services explains the importance of working smoke alarms for Fire Prevention Week.

Early detection by smoke alarms is crucial for timely evacuation and limiting fire damage. Patricia Young, the assistant fire marshal in Edmonton, joined CTV Morning Live’s Kent Morrison to talk about the importance of smoke alarms.

This transcript has been edited for length and clarity.

Kent Morrison: There were 623 residential fires in Edmonton last year and the number of times that no smoke alarms were found inside those houses… may surprise you. We're talking about the simple ways you can protect your family. We're joined by Patricia Young, who is the assistant fire marshal here in Edmonton. Can you tell us how often there was not a working smoke alarm in those houses last year?

Patricia Young: Well, of the 1,400 high-risk fires in Edmonton, about 45 per cent (of buildings) did not have a working smoke alarm.

Kent: Why is that? Why aren't people either buying or testing their smoke alarms?

Patricia: Sometimes the smoke alarm will go into the house or their apartment and people forget that they're there. They just think that they're always working. But it's so important to test those smoke alarms monthly. It's important to make sure they're clean of dust. You should be replacing them every 10 years. Battery operated and hardwired, believe it or not, the sensing equipment becomes old and old doesn't respond as quickly. So that's why they need to be replaced every 10 years.

Kent: So practically speaking, for those who may have forgotten about their smoke detectors, what do they need to do to test them or to make sure that they're working properly?

Patricia: Each smoke alarm does have a test button, and you push and hold that test button until you hear the beep. That lets you know that it has power and that it is at least working.

Kent: Okay, that's the easy one, but then tracking the 10 years can be difficult, especially when you're moving in and you're not sure how long that's been there. Do you have a standard for people when they should just make sure that they buy new ones?

Patricia: Well, if you've lived in your house for a long time and you've never replaced them, that’s probably a good indication. A lot of the newer smoke alarms do have “replace by date.” On this one, it says “replace in 2027,” so we've had this around in our office since 2017.

Kent: So even your test one has to be replaced sometimes, correct?

Patricia: Sometimes, if you install it, it may not come with the sticker, but you can certainly just get a black magic marker and write on there.

Kent: That's a good tip as well. What else should people be doing to make sure that their home is fire safe?

Patricia: They can go to our city of Edmonton website and we have a home fire safety assessment that they can do online. It takes about 10 minutes. They answer some questions and they get instant results on where they can improve their fire safety and there's also fire safety tips. You can also come visit us at our partners with Home Depot this year. We do have fire prevention officers on site that will talk about smoke alarms with you and help guide you with the correct ones to buy and other home fire safety tips. We're at northeast, southeast, Calgary Trail and the Westmount Home Depots, and you can find a list of those at edmonton.ca/firepreventionweek.

Kent: This obviously must be an issue. How far can a smoke detector go in saving someone's life in a fire?

Patricia: It's so important, that early detection. The working smoke alarm is what's needed to be safe for that early notification of a fire. The alert will get you and your loved ones out safely. It will also allow that early alert of fire, so that you can notify the fire department, and the department will respond quickly to the scene and hopefully prevent further damage and the spread of fire.

Kent: It takes a little bit of time, but it can go a long way. Thanks so much for coming in and helping us with those tips with fire detectors.