Working smoke alarms credited with helping North Bay residents avoid danger

Fire Prevention Week focuses on smoke alarms Monday is the beginning of Fire Prevention Week, one of the longest-standing public health observances in the country.

The North Bay fire chief is crediting working smoke alarms with saving local residents from a fire Tuesday night.

A fire broke out after the "careless disposal" of an incense stick at a brick home on Belleview Crescent, Fire Chief Greg Saunders said in an email Wednesday morning.

Firefighters were called to the structure fire in the home's attached garage around 7 p.m. Oct. 8, Saunders said.

"The fire … had largely been extinguished by the resident before the arrival of firefighting personnel," he said.

"Firefighters extinguished what was left of the blaze and ventilated the home of the carbon monoxide that was created by the fire."

No one was injured or displaced as a result of the incident.

"The residents had been alerted to the danger by properly maintained and properly located smoke alarms," Saunders said.

"This fire could have been much worse without the early notification of the danger by the working smoke alarm."