ESTEVAN - The Estevan Fire Rescue Service is emphasizing the importance of smoke detectors during the National Fire Prevention Week from Oct. 6-12.
This year's theme is Smoke Alarms: Make them Work for You. Deputy Fire Chief Kyle Luc said many of the fire department's vehicles have the message of Children Don't Hear Smoke. They Hear Smoke Alarms, and the devices save lives.
"We try and get out in the community all year round, doing our fire safety inspections, but smoke alarms, they do save lives. We see it at numerous calls that we go to. The smoke alarms activate. When the detector goes off, it gets people up and out of the house.
"We just want to really drive it home, not just on Fire Prevention Week, but anytime that smoke alarms are always a very important piece of everyone's house and everyone's businesses," said Luc.
The deputy chief believes people are more aware of the importance of smoke alarms, thanks to the different campaigns that emphasize the value of the devices and the efforts of Fire Prevention Week.
"We do what we can to also drive that home a little bit as well by ways of doing things like our open house where we hand out smoke alarms for free. I know sometimes they can be an inconvenience, but they save lives."
Fire Prevention Week is also an ideal time for people to test all of their smoke alarms in the house and make sure the batteries are working.
Fire Chief Rick Davies added it is the law in Saskatchewan to have working smoke alarms.
The fire department will also host its annual open house on Oct. 8 from 5-8 p.m. Luc said the plan for this year is to host a barbecue with hot dogs and soft drinks. There will be fire prevention materials available and tours of the building.
"Usually we set up a little obstacle course in the back for the kids so they can spray some water," said Luc. "Hopefully we get everyone out and through here. We'll have a few smoke alarms out that people can come and pick up if they feel they need them in their home."
At one time, the fire department had a smoke alarm program in which members went door to door in different neighbourhoods to test smoke alarms and check batteries. Luc said it was a big time commitment for the members, especially in October with school well underway and extracurricular activities resuming.
"We ask a lot of our members throughout the year for training for fire calls, for different community-related events," said Luc.
The fire department thought switching to the open house style of event would be better for the members, and the fire department gets to bring the community to their building.
