Smoke alarm awareness program begins next week in Vernon

VERNON – Firefighters from Vernon Fire Rescue Services (VFRS) will be visiting homes in the Holiday Park Mobile Home Park and Swanbrook Estates on Oct. 15 between 10 a.m. and 2 p.m. Firefighters will be going door-to-door to encourage residents to test their smoke alarms and replace their batteries. VFRS will also replace old smoke alarms or install a new one if the resident doesn’t have one.

The smoke alarms are donated by Silver Star Rotary Club of Vernon, Okanagan Restoration and Johnston Meier Insurance Agencies Group. All testing and installation will be done at no cost to homeowners.

"Almost 70 per cent of houses that caught fire in B.C. last year didn't have a functioning smoke alarm,” said VFRS Chief Keith Green. “Children and the elderly face the highest risk of dying in a residential fire. We want to do our part to eliminate that risk."

The smoke alarm program in Vernon was launched in 2012 when VFRS checked 140 smoke alarms and replaced over a dozen expired or non-functioning smoke alarms in the Big Chief Mobile Home Park. The campaign an initiative of the Fire Chiefs Association of British Columbia, and has a goal of a working smoke alarm in every home.

Working smoke alarms could reduce annual fire deaths in B.C. by as much as 32 per cent. Research reveals a causal link between working smoke alarms and reduced fatalities from residential structure fires. Fire damage was reduced by 19 per cent when a working smoke alarm was present.