This year’s campaign, “Fire won’t wait. Plan your escape™”, works to educate everyone about simple but important actions they can take to keep themselves and those around them safe from home fires.
Oct. 9-15 is Fire Prevention Week, and 2022 marks the 100th anniversary of this important public safety campaign. Fire safety education isn’t just for school children. It’s important for every member of the community to take some time during Fire Prevention Week to make sure they understand how to stay safe in case of a fire.
Did you know that you may have as little as two minutes (or less!) to safely escape a home fire from the time the smoke alarm sounds? Your ability to get out of a home during a fire depends on early warning from smoke alarms and advance planning.
Home fire escape planning and practicing
It is important for everyone to plan and practice a home fire escape. Everyone needs to be prepared in advance so that they know what to do when the smoke alarm sounds. Children, older adults, and people with disabilities may need assistance to wake up and get out. Make sure that someone will help them!
Smoke alarms
Smoke alarms sense smoke well before you can, alerting you to danger. Smoke alarms need to be in every bedroom, outside of the sleeping areas (like a hallway), and on each level (including the basement) of your home. Do not put smoke alarms in your kitchen or bathrooms.
Choose an alarm that is listed with a testing laboratory, meaning it has met certain standards for protection.
For the best protection, use a combination of smoke and carbon monoxide alarms that are interconnected throughout your home. These can be installed by a qualified electrician so that when one sounds, they all sound. This ensures you can hear the alarm no matter where in your home the alarm originates.
About Fire Prevention Week
Fire Prevention Week is observed each year during the week of October 9th in commemoration of the Great Chicago Fire, which began on October 8, 1871, killed more than 250 people, left 100,000 homeless, destroyed more than 17,400 structures, and burned more than 2,000 acres of land.
Since 1922, the NFPA has sponsored the public observance of Fire Prevention Week. In 1925, President Calvin Coolidge proclaimed Fire Prevention Week a national observance, making it the longest-running public health observance in our country.
