State Fire Marshal Reminds
Residents to Test, Inspect and Replace Broken or Expired Smoke/CO
Alarms While Changing Clocks
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[April 04, 2023]
The
Office of the Illinois State Fire Marshal (OSFM) reminds Illinoisans
to test, inspect, and replace broken or expired smoke/CO alarms in
their homes with new 10-year sealed battery alarms as they change
the clocks this weekend. Also, if you still have functional alarms
with removable batteries, now is good time to change those
batteries. An Illinois law that took effect on January 1, 2023, now
requires ten-year sealed smoke alarms be installed in all homes
built before 1988 or that do not have hardwired smoke detectors.
“Synthetic materials used in modern home construction causes homes
to burn faster and hotter while producing toxic fumes limiting
escape times to 3 minutes or less. This makes it vital for residents
to ensure they have working smoke alarms in their homes while
maintaining a fire escape plan that takes everyone’s needs into
account and practice that plan,” said Illinois State Fire Marshal
James A. Rivera.
The time change serves as a bi-annual reminder to test all smoke and
CO alarms in your home. If you find an alarm that is not working or
is expired, replace the alarm immediately with a new 10-year sealed
battery alarm. Review your fire-escape plan with your family and
hold a drill to practice your plan.
The National Fire Protection Association (NFPA)
reports between 2014-2018, almost three out of every five home fire
deaths in the U.S. resulted from fires in homes with no smoke alarms
or non-working smoke alarms. The chances of dying in a home fire was
reduced by 55% in homes were working smoke alarms are present.
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In fires in which the smoke
alarms were present but did not operate, more than two of every
five of the smoke alarms had missing or disconnected batteries.
Dead batteries accounted for 25% of smoke alarm
failures. In 2022 in Illinois, 66% of pre-existing smoke alarms
being replaced in homes that received the new 10-year sealed battery
alarms through the “Be Alarmed!” program was found to be
non-functional or were expired. Thanks to the “Be Alarmed!” program,
in 2022, over 1,200 Illinois homes and 2,808 residents are now
protected by new smoke alarms and were educated about the importance
of having a fire safety plan. Since “Be Alarmed” began in 2018, 250
active fire departments from over 61 counties in the state have
installed 16,053 10-year sealed battery alarms and have reached
12,565 people providing them with lifesaving fire safety education.
"Be Alarmed!" is a fire safety education and smoke
alarm installation program administered cooperatively between Camp I
Am Me and the Office of the Illinois State Fire Marshal (OSFM). “The
“Be Alarmed!” program is designed to help residents in Illinois
comply with the new law, but it’s really aimed at creating fire-safe
communities.
For more information on the “Be Alarmed!” program visit: https://www.ifsa.org/prevention-resources/smoke-alarm/
[Illinois Office of Communication and
Information] |