CASCADE, Mich. — With the end of Fire Prevention Week approaching, the Cascade Fire Department has been busy visiting schools and teaching the importance of smoke alarms.
"Smoke Alarms: Make Them Work For You," is the official nationwide theme this year. The Cascade Fire Dept. says having working smoke detectors at home provides the best and earliest method of detection, and can make a great difference in how fast crews are able to respond.
"Smoke alarms provide early detection in the home as long as they're working and have working batteries," said Lieutenant Andrew Albright. "You should change your batteries every year during the time changes. When we change your clocks forward and backwards, change your batteries in your smoke detectors."
Albright added that even if smoke detectors are hardwired, having working batteries keeps them functioning without power.
"We suggest having smoke alarms at least one on every level, outside of the sleeping areas, and inside every bedroom too," said Albright.
The Cascade Fire Department also explained that most false alarms from smoke detectors are caused by dead batteries, but also reminds people that they can read the back of their detector to know what the different numbers of alarms mean.
"There may be three chirps, that means low battery. Four chirps means the detector is out of age. All detectors should be within 10 years of manufactured date," said Albright. "After 10 years, they tend to not work as well."
Wanting to remind people of last year's theme, Albright said to "Close Before You Doze," as the Fire Safety Research Institute says more than a decade of research shows that closed doors can slow the spread of fire and deadly temperatures.
"The survivability of having an open door or a closed door, it's really a lifesaver if you close your doors while you're sleeping," explained Albright.
With colder months approaching, the Cascade Fire Dept. also said they tend to see an uptick in calls when people begin turning on their furnaces. They encourage people to have their furnaces checked and to complete maintenance before winter sets in.
Cleaning chimneys regularly can also help keep homes safe from potential hazards.
Additional tips from the Cascade Fire Department can be found here.