In 2012 the City of Vernon experienced 2.3 fires per 1,000 persons.
That was well above the provincial average of 1.5 fires per 1,000 persons.
“Of the fires our department attended last year, Vernon was very fortunate that none of them resulted in a residential fatality,” said Lawrie Skolrood, deputy fire chief.
“And where smoke alarms have been installed and are operating, the risk of serious injury or death has proven to be greatly reduced.”
That’s why members of the Vernon Fire Department have partnered with the Silver Star Rotary Club, Johnston Meier Insurance and Okanagan Restoration to test and install smoke detectors in residences throughout Vernon.
“Our motto is, We Won’t Rest Until You Install and Test,” said Skolrood of the department’s campaign.
“We’ll be at the Okanagan Terrace Mobile Home Park Nov. 2 testing and installing alarms between 10 a.m. and 2 p.m.”
All new homes built in B.C. are required to have smoke alarms with battery backup wired into the house electrical system to get around the problem of inoperative alarms due to dead batteries.
“In the meantime, the best insurance against a dead battery is to install fresh batteries in all your smoke alarms every spring and fall when you change your clocks,” said Skolrood.
“It’s cheap insurance and might save a life someday.”
