Thursday is Test Your Smoke Alarm Day across the province and earlier this month fire chiefs from St. Thomas and across Elgin met in Malahide to kick off the campaign.
The theme is, be prepared to be Saved by the Beep with a working smoke alarm.
Aman Kainth with the Office of the Fire Marshal said the response to the campaign has been, “overwhelming.”
On Thursday, fire chiefs in St. Thomas and across Elgin county are asking residents to take a minute to ensure there are working smoke alarms installed in their residence.
Kainth says in many instances of fire involving deaths, there was no working alarms.
Smoke alarms have been legally required to be installed on every floor of a residence in Ontario since 2006.
Preventing fire deaths through working smoke alarms and a home fire escape plan is the goal of Test Your Smoke Alarm Day.
Being prepared to act in the event of a fire can start by simply pressing the test button on a smoke alarm.
In other words, Saved by the Beep, the theme for Thursday’s campaign, explains Kainth.
The collective message from area fire chiefs is test smoke alarms at least once a month, refresh batteries at least once a year and replace smoke alarms older than 10 years.
For more information on the campaign visit http://www.savedbythebeep.ca
