What Will You Do With That Extra Hour? Check Your Smoke Detectors
Posted November 7, 2010 9:21 am.
This article is more than 5 years old.
After “falling back,” the Toronto Fire Service is urging all residents to take some time Sunday and make sure all their smoke and carbon monoxide detectors have working batteries.
“Ontario’s legislation requires that smoke alarms be installed and maintained on every level of a home, and outside all sleeping areas,” said Toronto Fire Chief William Stewart. “So this Sunday, remember to replace the batteries in every single smoke alarm in your home to provide early warning and critical seconds to escape.”
Fire officials are finding that anywhere from 40 to 60 per cent of smoke alarms don’t work properly, because people remove the batteries or they’ve worn out.
Approximately 80 per cent of all fire deaths occur in the home and carbon monoxide is the leading cause of fatal poisonings in North America.
It’s important to change smoke and carbon monoxide detectors at least every 10 years and test them monthly.
Health Canada is also urging anyone who relies on medical devices with internal clocks to update them.
Equipment such as pacemakers, defibrillators, Holter heartbeat monitors and glucose level monitors manufactured prior to 2007 may need to be adjusted.
With files from The Canadian Press.
