Vernon firefighters want residents to have working smoke detectors.
On Saturday from 10 a.m. to 2 p.m., firefighters will donate their time to go door-to-door to encourage residents of Sandy Beach Mobile Home Park to test their smoke alarms and replace their batteries.
“Almost 70 per cent of houses that caught fire in B.C. didn’t have a functioning smoke alarm,” said fire chief Keith Green.
“Children and the elderly face the highest risk of dying in a residential fire. We want to do our part to eliminate that risk.”
Firefighters will also replace or install new smoke alarms donated by the Silver Star Rotary Club, Okanagan Restoration and Johnston Meier Insurance. All testing and installation will be done at no cost to homeowners.
The smoke alarm program was launched 2012 in the Big Chief Mobile Home Park when Vernon firefighters checked 140 smoke alarms and replaced more than a dozen expired or non-functioning smoke alarms.
Working smoke alarms could reduce annual fire deaths in B.C. by as much as 32 per cent, and research reveals a link between working smoke alarms and reduced fatalities from residential structure fires.
