WhatFinger


On behalf of: Canadian Association of Fire Chiefs

Good Habits Save Lives … Fall into the battery time change ritual!



More than 50 years ago, the phrase “spring forward and fall back” was first coined as an easy reminder for people who had trouble remembering whether to move clocks ahead or back in the correct season. Just over 20 years ago, the time change also began to be associated with changing the batteries in your smoke alarm.

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The fire service looks for every available opportunity to instil the basics of fire safety. Year in and year out, they bundle the smoke alarm battery replacement message with the time change every Spring and Fall. As we approach the switch back from Daylight Savings Time on Sunday, November 7th, how many Canadians remain vulnerable? The Canadian Association of Fire Chiefs (CAFC) together with Duracell and Kidde Canada, regularly commission important research that examines Canadian smoke alarm maintenance practises. This research has shown as many as one-half of all households don’t maintain the ritual of installing new batteries. It’s a deadly oversight. In more than 60 per cent of fatal fires in Canada, investigators find smoke alarms with the batteries removed, smoke alarms with dead batteries, or no smoke alarms at all. Evoking action on the home front requires persistent effort, according to Chief Rob Simonds, CAFC President. “Smoke alarms can easily blend into the wood work, and before you know it, you’ve gone years or even decades without checking your batteries or the expiry date of your alarms. It’s not uncommon in household inspections to find alarms more than 20 years old, and that just isn’t acceptable,” says Simonds. Simonds adds, “It may sound like a broken record when we preach the change your clock, change your battery routine, but it’s a message that needs to be continuously reinforced. If you don’t change your clock, you’re going to quickly fall out of sync with everything that’s around you. But if you don’t change your batteries or replace your old smoke alarms, you are at risk of losing the only chance you have to be alerted of the fire and getting out alive.” Smoke alarms need to be replaced every 10 years whether they are battery-only or hardwired. According to Carol Heller, a home safety expert with Kidde Canada, even if your home's smoke alarms are wired into your electrical system, most have battery back-up in case of a power outage so check the batteries in those too. Replacing smoke alarm batteries once per year is a simple but tried-and-true practise that doubles your chances of escaping and surviving a fire. So why would anyone choose not to do everything possible to keep their family safe from tragedy? With the home heating season upon us and the heightened attention on the dangers of carbon monoxide, Fall is also a great time to install new batteries in CO alarms. “Entire families have been killed by carbon monoxide in this country so it is time Canadians took CO protection seriously,” Carol Heller says. “This gas is colourless, odourless and tasteless to humans. The only way to detect it is with a CSA-approved carbon monoxide alarm. Homeowners need reminding that CO alarms also require replacement, every 5 to 7 years, depending on the model.” Good habits save lives! For more information on home fire safety and carbon monoxide safety visit SafeAtHome.ca. The Canadian Association of Fire Chiefs is the national public service association dedicated to reducing the loss of life and property from fire, and advancing the science and technology of the Fire and Emergency Service in Canada. For information: Gary Holloway hollowcreek@sympatico.ca Conrad Galambos cgalambos@sympatico.ca


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