As part of Fire Prevention Week, Comox Fire Rescue is stressing the importance of having working smoke detectors and replacing them when they expire.
According to fire chief Jim Larivierre, the alarms have an expiry date. If your alarms are older than 10 years, they should be replaced with new and up to date equipment for better safety.
“If they were hard wired, which means hooked into your house’s electrical system, you should replace it with hardwired as well,” said Larivierre.
“You can get the 10-year smoke alarms, which means that the hardwired ones have battery backup or just the battery-operated ones.”
The advice comes with this year’s Fire Prevention Week theme around dangers within homes, especially around cooking hazards.
According to the National Fire Protection Association, cooking fires are the leading cause of home fires and unattended fires are seen as the leading cause of death.
Safety tips for cooking include staying in the kitchen while frying or grilling food and being on alert. If you have doubts about fighting a small fire, leave your home and call 9-1-1.
Fire Prevention Week will run until Oct. 14.
