Home security systems and functioning smoke alarms are being credited for saving a pair of Nanaimo homes on Tuesday, Feb. 4. (Alex Rawnsley/NanaimoNewsNOW)

By Alex Rawnsley

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Smoke alarms, security systems save two Nanaimo homes from fire

Feb 5, 2020 | 9:42 AM

NANAIMO — Fire Rescue are crediting early warning systems for their ability to save two Nanaimo homes from being destroyed by fire on Tuesday, Feb. 4.

Crews were called to the 2200 block of Leighton Rd in the lunch hour and the 3400 block of Hillside Ave. shortly before 3 p.m. by 9-1-1 calls from monitored security systems.

Fire inspector Alan Millbank told NanaimoNewsNOW the residents were able to evacuate thanks to their smoke alarms, while crews got a jump on their response thanks to the security system call out.

“It made a difference of around two to five minutes,” Millbank said. “Usually a fire is burning for quite some time before it’s observed by people who are there but the detectors can detect it quite early on.”

Millbank said that time savings was crucial in being able to contain the damage and avoiding relocation of people living in the homes.

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“The average house fire can go from a start to full room involvement in two minutes,” Millbank said. “A saving of two, four or five minutes can make a significant difference in how much time it takes for that fire to spread to the rest of the home.”

A report in 2019 suggested the number of working smoke detectors in Nanaimo was at a five year low.

Nanaimo Fire Rescue said only 28 per cent of homes in the city had working smoke detectors in 2018.

alex.rawnsley@jpbg.ca

On Twitter: @alexrawnsley