Smoke Alarms & Fire Safety

Home Fire Escape Planning

Your ability to get out of your home during a fire depends on advance warning from smoke alarms and advance planning. Fire can spread rapidly through your home, leaving you as little as one or two minutes to escape safely once the smoke alarm sounds. Have an escape plan and practice it as a family. Click here for more information on Home Fire Escape Planning.

Smoke Alarms Save Lives

Smoke alarms that are properly installed and maintained play a vital role in reducing fire deaths and injuries. Fire spreads fast, working smoke alarms give you early warning so you can get outside quickly. Install smoke alarms in every sleeping room and outside each separate sleeping area. Install alarms on every level of the home including in the basement. Click here for more information on installing and maintaining Smoke Alarms. 

Carbon Monoxide

Carbon monoxide (CO) is an odorless, colorless and toxic gas. Because you cannot see, taste or smell its toxic fumes, CO can kill you before you are aware it is in your home. Having a working carbon monoxide detector in your home could alert you of a CO problem. Click here for more information on Carbon Monoxide Safety.

Fire Prevention Week

Fire Prevention Week is observed each year during the week of October 9th in commemoration of the Great Chicago Fire, which began on October 8, 1871, and caused devastating damage. This horrific conflagration killed more than 250 people, left 100,000 homeless, destroyed more than 17,400 structures, and burned more than 2,000 acres of land. In 1925, President Calvin Coolidge proclaimed Fire Prevention Week a national observance, making it the longest-running public health observance in our country. For more information and this year's educational campaign visit Fire Prevention Week.