By JESSE GRAHAM
WITH daylight savings winding up this weekend, emergency services are urging residents to use the occasion to focus on their safety and change the batteries on their smoke alarms.
The CFA has urged residents to change their smoke alarm batteries along with their clocks as part of the Change your Clock – Change your Smoke Alarm Battery campaign on Sunday 6 April.
The mentality behind the campaign is using the end of daylight savings as a reminder to keep smoke alarms updated, as batteries last around 12 months.
Healesville Fire Brigade member George Trumble said that a working smoke alarm could help prevent tragedy, particularly for elderly residents who might be hard of hearing.
He said that smoke alarms were loud enough to not just alert residents in the household, but could help to wake anyone in adjacent houses.
“They make neighbours aware there’s a problem,” he said.
He said the benefits of a working smoke alarm extended to everyone, and that a functioning alarm could prevent someone waking up in a house full of smoke, or worse – not waking up at all.
“Smoke can be very disorienting – if there’s a smoke alarm going off, there’s more of a chance of getting out while there’s room to see where you’re going, rather than have smoke building up in the room,” Mr Trumble said.
In the Yarra Ranges, there were 77 preventable residential fires in 2013, with a total estimated loss of $4,509,200.
The CFA encourages all members of a household to have an up-to-date and practised fire plan, which includes an assembly point a safe distance from the house – such as a letterbox.
Smoke alarms older than 10 years old should also be replaced – the date is usually shown on the inside of the alarm when it is unscrewed from the roof.
Alarms should also be checked weekly, by pressing its button to ensure it is functioning correctly.
