SPRINGFIELD, Ill. (WAND)- As daylight saving time nears this weekend, the Office of the Illinois State Fire Marshal reminds Illinoisans to test, inspect expiration dates, and change the batteries in smoke and carbon monoxide (CO) alarms while turning their clock back.
“Fire Safety is something that all Illinoisans should be thinking about and practicing daily. The time change serves as a bi-annual reminder to test your smoke and CO alarms and is also a good time to review and practice your families fire escape plan,” said Illinois State Fire Marshal Matt Perez. “We see an increase in fires during the cold weather months and having working smoke alarms in our homes is very important as the time you have to escape a fire can be as little as 3 minutes.”
According to the National Fire Protection Association 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 NFPA also reports the death rate per 1,000 reported home fires was more than twice as high in homes that did not have any working smoke alarms compared to the rate in homes with working smoke alarms.
NFPA says in fires in which smoke alarms were present but did not operate, two of every five of the smoke alarms had missing or disconnected batteries. Dead batteries caused 26% of the smoke alarm failures.
A 2017 Illinois law requires ten-year sealed smoke alarms be installed in all homes built before 1988 or that do not have hardwired smoke detectors by January 1, 2023.
Together, the Illinois Fire Safety Alliance and the Office of the Illinois State Fire Marshal have created a fire safety education and smoke alarm installation program, "Be Alarmed!"
The program provides ten-year, concealed battery smoke alarms to Illinois residents through their local fire departments and can aid with obtaining and installing these required alarms. Smoke alarms are required on every floor of a house and within 15 feet of every bedroom.
In 2020, 185 Illinois fire departments from 61 counties participated in the “Be Alarmed” program and installed 1,655 10-year sealed battery smoke alarms.
Thanks to this program, 1,376 (803 high-risk) Illinois residents were educated on smoke alarm maintenance, home fire safety, and home fire escape plans as well as protected by new smoke alarms.
For more information on the “Be Alarmed!” program visit: https://www.ifsa.org/programs/alarms
