Wilmington – On Wednesday, July 19, 2017 at 10:00 pm, the Wilmington Fire Department will continue its ongoing Fire Prevention Awareness initiative by conducting door-to-door distribution of fire prevention pamphlets as well as providing & installing smoke alarms and carbon monoxide detectors in the Wilmington community between N. Broom St. to Delamore Place W. 2nd St. to W. 4th St.
According to the National Fire Protection Association (NFPA), one-third of home fire deaths occur in homes without smoke alarms and 24% of fire deaths occur in homes where a smoke alarm was present but did not operate.
•Smoke alarms provide an early warning of a fire, giving people additional escape time. In 2009-2013, smoke alarms sounded in more than half (53%) of the home1 fires reported to U.S. fire departments.
•Three of every five home fire deaths resulted from fires in homes with no smoke alarms (38%) or no working smoke alarms (21%).
•The death rate per 100 reported home fires was more than twice as high in homes that did not have any working smoke alarms compared to the rate in homes with working smoke alarms (1.18 deaths vs. 0.53 deaths per 100 fires).
•In fires in which the smoke alarms were present but did not operate, almost half (46%) of the smoke alarms had missing or disconnected batteries.
•Dead batteries caused one-quarter (24%) of the smoke alarm failures.
Wilmington Fire Department’s goal is to significantly reduce the likelihood of injuries and deaths related to the lack of smoke and/or carbon monoxide alarms through proactive education. By conducting these quarterlydoor-to-door initiatives, Wilmington Fire Department personnel can directly interact with the citizens that we serve and answer any questions that they may have while providing them with the necessary educational literature and smoke/CO alarms to keep their families safe.
Source: Wilmington Fire Department
Image Credits: Wilmington Fire Department