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Daylight Saving Time A Good Chance To Test Smoke Alarms

The Office of the Illinois State Fire Marshal (OSFM) is reminding Illinoisans to test and inspect fire and carbon monoxide alarms, and replace batteries if they need to be replaced over the weekend. Fire alarms and carbon monoxide alarms should be checked twice a year, and Daylight Saving TIme is a great time to do that. The OSFM also encourages you to go over fire escape plans especially as cold weather arrives. 

 

Illinois State Fire Marshal Matt Perez says that sometimes you only have 3 minutes to escape a fire so knowing where to go during a fire is extremely important. The National Fire Protection Association reports that between 2014 and 2018, almost three out of every five home fire deaths resulted from fires with no smoke alarms or non working smoke alarms. 

 

The death rate per 1,000 reported home fires was more than twice as high in homes that didn't have any working smoke alarms compared to the rate in homes with working smoke alarms. Dead batters caused 26% of the smoke alarm failures. Replacing alarms that have missing or are either expired or broken with new ten-year sealed detectors will help reduce deaths from fires.

 

A new Illinois State law required 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. There is a new Illinois program called "Be Alarmed!" which has been developed to educate Illinois residents on teh dangers of fires and how to prevent fires from occuring in the home. For more information visit www.ifsa.org/programs/alarms. 

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