Will you be Saved by the Beep, Sarnia fire chief asks

Sarnia’s fire chief wants city residents to test their smoke alarms Sept. 28 so they can be Saved by the Beep.

That’s the slogan of Ontario’s first Test Your Smoke Alarm Day, an initiative of the Ontario Fire Marshal’s office supported by Sarnia Fire Rescue Services.

“Being prepared to act in the event of a fire can start with simply pressing the test button and having the confidence that a working smoke alarm is in your home,” Sarnia fire Chief Bryan Van Gaver said in a release.

The fire service has been promoting the event on social media, including posting a video skit by local firefighters based on the TV show Saved by the Bell. It’s at youtube.com/@SarniaFireRescueServices/videos.

The service also invites city residents to post videos of their own creative ways of testing smoke alarms.

“Last year, 133 people died in fires in Ontario,” said Mike Otis, the service’s public education officer. “It’s the highest in over 20 years.”

Buildings in many of those fatal fires had no working smoke alarms, the Fire Marshal’s office said.

“Had there been working smoke alarms, and a well-thought-out and practiced home fire escape plan, these deaths may have been prevented,” Fire Marshal Jon Pegg said in a statement.

His office enlisted fire departments across the province to get behind Saved By the Beep and urge Ontarians to test their home smoke alarms Sept. 28, Otis said.

“By law in Ontario, you need a working smoke alarm on every storey of your home and outside of sleeping areas,” he said. “In your bedroom is even better, for added protection.”

Sarnia was an early adopter of smoke detector requirements.

After Francis Egan died in a house fire in 1985, her family spread the word about smoke detectors and convinced the city to pass a bylaw requiring them, a decade before the province enacted similar legislation.

“You can’t put up a smoke alarm, leave it there and never pay attention to it,” Otis said. “You’re supposed to test it once a month and change the batteries at least once a year.”

It’s also important to be aware that smoke detectors, even “hard-wired” models, expire and should be replaced every 10 years, Otis said.

“The sensor in it gets weaker and weaker over time,” he said. “An older alarm will take much longer to respond in a fire than a new alarm.”

Sarnia firefighters responding to calls often find homes without working smoke alarms, Otis said. “It’s a major problem.”

The service likes to use “education over enforcement” to move compliance rates higher, but there is a fine of $360 per alarm, he said.

Landlords are responsible for buying and maintaining alarms in rental units, Otis said. “If anyone has an issue with landlords not providing alarms, they should call us.”

This year’s Fire Prevention Week is also coming up soon, Oct. 8 to 14, and the theme is Cooking Safety Starts with You, Otis said. “Year after year, any city you go to, cooking is the No. 1 cause of house fires.”

The week falls on the anniversary of the Great Chicago Fire which left hundreds dead, thousands homeless and led to the creation of Fire Prevention Week a century ago.

“It’s the longest-running public safety event in North America,” Otis said.

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