By Spencer Sterritt

Nanaimo Fire hitting the streets for smoke alarm awareness

Sep 22, 2017 | 5:32 PM

NANAIMO — Even if there hasn’t been a fire, downtown residents will soon see Nanaimo firefighters at their door.

Nanaimo Fire is expanding their awareness campaign about working smoke detectors and will go door to door downtown starting in October.

Fire Chief Karen Fry told NanaimoNewsNOW this is the first time time they’ve targetted a specific area to see if their smoke alarms work. Only 18 per cent of downtown fires in recent years had functioning smoke alarms, well below the provincial average of 35 per cent.

“I think a lot of people haven’t really thought about it or they think about pushing the button or maybe they hear it go off if they’re burning toast,” she said. “I think the thing most people are shocked about is the 10-year lifespan.”

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Fry said smoke detectors only properly work for roughly 10 years, which can create a false sense of security.

“If it’s over 10 years, it may still beep but you can’t be sure if it’s over its life expectancy and work properly when smoke reaches it.”

Fry said she can think of at least one instance in downtown Nanaimo where someone passed away in a fire within the last five years due to a smoke alarm not working.

“If you’re awake and at home you might see or smell the smoke, but if you’re asleep in bed and you’re not woken up by the sound of a smoke detector going off, by the time a fire has reached your bedroom and you wake up to it, if you do, it’s already expanded beyond when it’s probably safe to evacuate.”

Thursday night a possibly devastating fire was avoided by working smoke detectors. Fry said the four-plex in the 6000 block of Cedar Grove Dr. had a working smoke detector which roused a family of four and prevented any injuries.

Since the initiative began, Fry said people were receptive to their outreach and it’s gone well so far.

spencer@nanaimonewsnow.com

On Twitter: @spencer_sterrit