As daylight savings comes to an end, the South Australian Metropolitan Fire Service (MFS) and Country Fire Service (CFS) urge all South Australians to change their smoke alarm batteries, when winding their clocks back this Sunday, 7 April.
Throughout 2023, nearly half of all significant house fires in South Australia occurred in homes with either disabled smoke alarms, flat batteries, or no smoke alarms installed at all.
Earlier this year, a St Agnes home caught fire overnight, and the presence of working smoke alarms saved two lives and prevented approximately $400,000 of damage to the property.
Most fire-related deaths are caused by the inhalation of smoke and toxic fire gases rather than from direct contact with flames or heat.
Correctly located smoke alarms in your home give early warning of fire, providing you with the precious time which may be vital to your survival.
Both fire services recommend the best protection is provided by interconnected photo-electric smoke alarms which are hard-wired to the 240-volt power supply to give the earliest warning possible.
Quotes
Attributable to Joe Szakacs
A smoke alarm isn’t ornamental – it’s there to save your life.
Remember, when changing your clocks this weekend, change your smoke alarm batteries too.
Attributable to Jeff Swann, MFS Chief Officer
Only working smoke alarms save lives. If there’s a fire in your house, every second counts when you and your family are trying to escape. The more you prepare, the better your chances are of survival.
On average, we lose 64 Australians every year in preventable house fires, and around 2,000 Australians suffer from serious burns. By checking you have a working smoke alarm, you give yourself the earliest possible warning to evacuate safely.
Attributable to Brett Loughlin, CFS Chief Officer
If a fire occurs in your house while your family is asleep, every second counts when it comes to your safety. Having working smoke alarms activate could be the difference between waking up with enough time to escape or running out of time.
