Don’t Wait, Check the date: Fire Prevention Week

  • Published
  • By F.E. WARREN AIR FORCE BASE, Wyo.
  • F. E. Warren Fire Emergency Services

The base’s Fire Prevention Week starts Oct. 11. This year’s theme is, “Don’t Wait Check the Date!” and focuses on checking your smoke detector frequently. Many people are unaware that smoke detectors have an average life span of ten years.

A working smoke detector can help you and your family make it out of a house fire safely. It is your primary defense to alert you and your family of a potential fire.

The National Fire Protection Association recommends that every home have a working smoke detector in each bedroom, outside each sleeping area, and on every level of the home, to include the basement.

Three out of five home-fire deaths result in homes without working smoke alarms. Smoke alarms usually fail as a result of missing or dead batteries, or because the detectors are too old.

“A rule of thumb is to change your battery each time you change the clocks for daylight saving time,” said Greg Chesser, 90th Civil Engineer Squadron fire chief. “This ensures your smoke detectors are working year round.”

Fire Prevention Week was established to commemorate the Great Chicago Fire. In 1871, a conflagration killed more than 250 people, left 100,000 homeless, destroyed more than 17,400 structures and burned more than 2,000 acres. The fire began on Oct. 8, but continued into and did most of its damage on Oct. 9, 1871.

For more information on fire safety, contact the Warren Fire Department at 773-2931.